Timothy Geitner: Raging Financial Inferno
on Tuesday, May 19, 2015Timothy Geitner Money Quotation saying as United States Secretary of the Treasury, under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013 that prosecuting bankers would not have been productive in saving the economy. Timothy Geitner said:
“Trying to mete out punishment to perpetrators during a genuinely systemic crisis – by letting major firms fail … can pour gasoline on the fire. Old Testament vengeance appeals to the populist fury of the moment, but the truly moral thing to do during a raging financial inferno is to put it out” — Timothy Geitner
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In this quote, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is defending the government’s approach to addressing the 2008 financial crisis. His view seems to be that during a severe systemic crisis that endangers the entire economy, allowing large financial institutions to collapse through lack of bailouts could have made the situation far worse by further eroding confidence and stability.
Geithner implies that satisfying a “populist fury” demand for punishment and vengeance would have been short-sighted and risked fueling the crisis fire. Instead, he argues the ethical path was prioritizing containment and recovery by keeping major firms operational even if unpopular, as the “truly moral thing” was extinguishing the crisis flames, not exacting retribution.
The quote conveys Geithner’s perspective that in an extreme emergency, pragmatic solutions must take precedence over emotional reactions or demands for justice against individual actors.