Timothy Geithner is the New York Federal Reserve Bank President and Vice Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee. Therefore he works DIRECTLY with the stock and bond markets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geithner served as a Treasury undersecretary for international affairs under [Lawrence] Summers, 53, and has been at the helm of the New York Fed since November 2003. Summers, who was Treasury chief from 1999 to 2001, and was once named top economist under 40, would be a contender to follow [Ben] Bernanke, who was appointed by President George W. Bush and whose term ends in January 2010. ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geithner is no stranger to Washington or the Treasury. Before taking over the New York Fed in 2003, he spent most of the previous 18 years working in the nation’s capital, first at Kissinger Associates, then at the Treasury and finally at the International Monetary Fund.

Over that time, Geithner earned what his one-time mentor Summers called a “doctorate in financial policy.” He also developed a skill-set his supporters say makes him well suited for his new job: calmness under pressure, an ability to see many sides of a problem and a sense of the politically possible.

“During the Mexico crisis, some of us would occasionally be emotional about something,” said Jeffrey Shafer, who served with Geithner at the Treasury from 1993 to 1997 and who is now Vice Chairman of Global Banking for Citigroup in New York. “Tim was the calm guy in the room who made sure we looked at all sides of the issue.”

Asian Experience

Geithner, who has studied Japanese and Chinese and has a Master of Arts in international economics from Johns Hopkins University, also played a key role in the Treasury’s dealings with the Finance Ministry in Tokyo. He was less inclined to intervene in currency markets than some other officials at the time, according to Shafer.

Born in New York, Geithner has lived in Africa, India, Thailand, China and Japan. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies. He and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, have two children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Blinder, a former Fed vice-chairman, echoed that sentiment, saying that Geithner "brings to the job intelligence, a wealth of experience in crisis management, deep knowledge of everything that has been going on in the last year, and an ability to listen and learn." Blinder, a Princeton University economist, added: "The struggles that any new secretary of the Treasury would face are legion. Tim is coming in down five runs in the eighth inning."