It looks like Tim Geithner of the New York Fed is Obama’s pick for Treasury Secretary, beating out Larry Summers. Geithner is a wily technocrat good at working the bureaucracy and the press. Summers is an intellectual famed for the just the opposite — his lack of skill with colleagues and reporters. Especially at this dangerous economic moment, I would have preferred Summers’ substance over Geithner’s guile. But I know far less about Geithner’s policy views and will retain an open mind. Good luck to him.
Update: Missed this from the article:
The president-elect might name Mr. Summers, a highly regarded economist and a former president of Harvard University, as a senior White House adviser, people involved in the transition said.
On second thought, maybe that’s the perfect arrangement.
Update II (Saturday night): Summers will be director of the National Economic Council in the White House. Good move.
