Geithner on the Record: Toxic Assets

Geithner on the Record: Toxic Assets


come down. So those things are all very important.

Money market guarantee fund is another complement to that. And again, very important for the American people to understand, that we’re going to do what’s necessary to protect the system, to prevent the kind of catastrophic failure that could cause greater damage to recovery and the financial fabric of the system as we work through this challenging period.

Q It’s a very tough question. I mean, one of my friends asked me, should I be thinking about pulling my money out of the money market, you know, when we get to — when we get to the middle of April?

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Absolutely not. And you see — again, if you look at, across the system, about the basic response of investors and depositors, I think you see a appropriate degree of confidence that those resources are safe and comfortable.

Yes.

Q Looking at this program, it seems as if you’re talking about the TALF, talking about the FDIC — all of this seems to be designed without having to ask for additional congressional appropriations. Do you anticipate a scenario in which more funding would need to be allocated and appropriated?

SECRETARY GEITHNER: We have substantial resources already provided by the Congress that we’re going to put to work in support of this broad program.

In the President’s budget, we put a reserve fund in the budget against the possibility that we would judge that additional resources would be required to do this on a scale that would, again, help us get out of this more quickly, at least ultimate cost to the taxpayer. And we will work with the Congress to try to make sure that there are enough resources over time to do this right.

But the judgment about, you know, what’s going to be required is a judgment that we don’t need to make at this time and are not prepared to make at this time.

But the basic point I want to underscore is that we have substantial resources that we’re going to deploy in support of these programs now, and we will work with the Congress over time to try to make sure that we’re doing this in a way that has maximum impact on trying to get recovery established more quickly than would otherwise be the case.

And again, the basic lesson — I’m sorry, you guys, just give me one sec — basic lesson of financial crises is that you get — recessions are shorter, they cause less damage, you get lower future deficits, you solve the crisis at least cost to the taxpayer, if you move more forcefully earlier.

Yes.

Q Sir, you need to win back the confidence of the markets and support for your program. You also need the confidence and support from your international partners. Would you say that after Horsham, after the meeting in Horsham, you’ve moved closer to that goal? And have you heard anything at Horsham that you really liked and thought useful and that you should implement?

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Horsham being, for those of


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