Galbraith vs the Administration

James K Galbraith's testimony from last week
Professor Galbraith spoke last week about the chances of success of the policies of the current Administration. I tend to agree with Galbraith, as I think he is the rightful carrier of the genius that came from his father. In this testimony (which should be read for context) he says that the 'stimulus' is too small, the bank plan will not work, and the home loan rescue plan will work. He's so cool, but this does put Galbraith in the position of disagreeing with my new boyfriend Tim Geithner. I must rationalize this because I admire these two guys.

Geithner's plan is not ideal but it appears to be politically possible. Galbraith's ideas are rational and sound, but politically unattractive. Galbraith advocates an FDR-style federal takeover of troubled banks and the bad assets they hold. That's a great idea that will not happen any time soon because the American public is not yet ready to consider such a radical idea. Hell, the conservative thinkers (and the public who follow them) think the current plan is somewhat Marxist already. Maybe things need to get worse before a sensible plan like Galbraith's has any chance of receiving due consideration.

Meanwhile, Geither has to deal with the political realities as well as economic ones. That's a very harsh couple of realities to work within. I wish Tim the hottie all the balls and wood he will need to do his good works.