What a sense of humor Tim Geithner has
Tim Geithner has quite a sense of humor, telling the Chinese that the US is serious about controlling deficits when precisely the opposite is true. Bloomberg
Geithner to Reassure China U.S. Will Control Deficits…“No one is going to be more concerned about future deficits than we are,” Geithner told reporters on the way to two days of meetings that start today in China’s capital.
Geithner will meet with Premier Wen Jiabao, who in March called for the U.S. to “guarantee the safety of China’s assets.” China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, which so far this year has handed investors the worst loss since at least 1977 on forecasts for ballooning federal budget deficits.
“I hope Geithner’s visit can soothe our nerves,” said Yu Yongding, a senior researcher at the government-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a former central bank adviser. “The Chinese public is worried about the safety of its foreign-exchange reserves”…
Investor concern about a record American budget deficit helped send yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 3.74 percent on May 27, the highest level since mid-November…China held about $768 billion of Treasuries as of March, according to U.S. government data. Treasuries have lost 5.1 percent so far this year including reinvested interest, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. index data. The dollar has also slumped…
Seventeen of 23 Chinese economists polled in connection with Geithner’s visit said holdings of Treasuries are a “great risk” for the nation’s economy…Geithner, 47, needs to show how the U.S. can prevent the value of China’s investment from being eroded…“It will be helpful if Geithner can show us some arithmetic,” he said.
We did the arithmetic and we agree with China’s concerns about the spendthrift and irresponsible Obama administration. What a comedian Geithner is, telling his tall tales. Of course the joke is not only on the Chinese and the American middle class, but on future generations. What will they say about the Americans of this time?
Final point: if the former Prime Minister of Australia’s version of events is true, the Chinese authorities already think that Geithner is a clown, so his reputation for humor precedes him.