New US Treasury Secretary: Jack "I Don't Consider Myself an Expert" Lew

treasury secretary prepared to step up against corporate interests---oxymoron at its' finest

 

PE guys are usually pretty sharp on the broad strokes of the market. I'm pretty sure he can interpret movements in Treasury yields and currency trades quite competently.

one must also remember that the President has at his service a lot of economic heavyweights, should he wish to ask them for specifics about the financial markets---academic macro-economists who were on par or on a level higher than Geithner and now Lew.

For example, Alan Krueger comes easily to mind when it comes to the link between labour markets and financial markets/the macroeconomy in general.

with that said, Lew very much has the feel of a passive caretaker type, but I wouldn't underrate him just because he didn't happen to head the NY Fed.

 

what pisses me off about Lew is less his perceived in-competencies---it's more the fact that with his nomination, the White House is pivoting pretty significantly away from financial reform, especially with Lew's role in Citi and his Rubin roots.

but I never expected the Treasury secretary to defend the people, so it's not like this is a huge shock.

 

Government experience, federal budgeting experience, executive experience in a finance organization. I'm not sure who or what else we would expect in a Treasury Secretary.

 

so a comprehensive understanding of the financial system is a plus (that I think people are underrating him on a bit, and his admission probably has more to do with the technocratic details of OTC derivatives and etc.)---but a will to move the chains is a must. I don't think Lew has the latter, and that's what worries me.