Right Pulse

Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University has picked up on the issue Paul Keating raised about Tim Geithner and Larry Summers role in ruining the Indonesian economy during the mid-1990s:

Before we leave Indonesia and return to the eye of the storm, it is worth pondering the fact that two key members of the Clinton administration who so splendidly misdiagnosed Indonesia’s economic problems during the Asian financial crisis are now key members of the Obama administration. Indeed, Lawrence Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, and Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner are still going strong. This time around they are once again preaching fear. We are told to either accept a strong dose of government intervention or the sky will fall. The longer Messrs Summers and Geithner can be held at bay, the more likely a US recovery, led by market forces, will surprise the chattering classes and defy Washington.