Record 44.7 Million People Celebrate Geithner's Departure And The End Of QE2 Through [Archive]

mick silver

2nd August 2011, 06:06 PM

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/record-447-million-people-celebrate-geithners-departure-and-end-qe2-through-foodstamps ....
Record 44.7 Million People Celebrate Geithner's Departure And The End Of QE2 Through Foodstamps

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/pictures/picture-5.jpg (http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden)
Submitted by Tyler Durden (http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden) on 07/01/2011 09:29 -0400

recovery (http://www.zerohedge.com/taxonomy_vtn/term/11361)

The one and only clearest indication of just how effective the recovery and QE2 in general has been, comes courtesy of the USDA, whose just released update (http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/34SNAPmonthly.htm)of April participation in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as "foodstamps", shows yet another record, this time 44.647 million people, an increase from May's 44.587 million. And after rising modestly in the last month, the average monthly benefit per household dropped again to a post April 2009 revision low of $282.38/month.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/draghi/June%20SNAP_0.png (http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/draghi/June%20SNAP.png)
h/t John Lohman

mick silver

2nd August 2011, 06:38 PM

Geithner’s Possible Departure Would Make Obama Rebuild Team For Campaign ... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-01/geithner-s-potential-departure-would-force-obama-to-rebuild-for-campaign.html ...
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner (http://topics.bloomberg.com/timothy-f.-geithner/)’s potential departure from the administration would force President Barack Obama (http://topics.bloomberg.com/barack-obama/) to assemble a new economic team as he enters a re-election campaign that’s likely to be dominated by voter concern over jobs.
Geithner has told Obama that he’s considering leaving the administration after the president reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Treasury secretary said yesterday that speculation about his departure was being driven by his decision to commute to New York so his son can finish his final year of high school there. He stated his intention to stay, without saying how long.
“I live for this work,” he said at the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago (http://topics.bloomberg.com/chicago/). “It’s the only thing I’ve ever done. I believe in it. We have a lot of challenges as a country. I’m going to be doing it for the foreseeable future.”
Geithner, 49, won’t make a final decision on whether to leave until the debt-ceiling issue has been resolved, according to another person familiar with the matter. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions.
An exit by Geithner would complete the turnover in Obama’s original economic team, with Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee (http://topics.bloomberg.com/austan-goolsbee/) scheduled to leave in early August to return to the University of Chicago. It would leave Obama with two key posts to fill as the recovery slows. The unemployment rate (http://topics.bloomberg.com/unemployment-rate/) rose to 9.1 percent in May, and the economy grew at a 1.9 percent pace in the first quarter, the government reported.
‘New Blood’

Three other top economic advisers already have departed. Goolsbee replaced Christina Romer (http://topics.bloomberg.com/christina-romer/) at the CEA, and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag (http://topics.bloomberg.com/peter-orszag/) left the administration last year.
“There is never a good time to leave, but there is also value to bringing new blood into the policymaking process,” said Stephen Myrow, a former Treasury official who’s now with ACG Analytics Inc., a Washington investment research firm.
“If and when Secretary Geithner announces his departure, it will be interesting to see whether the president emphasizes with his replacement financial-sector credentials like he did by choosing William Daley as his chief of staff, or if he focuses primarily on Washington experience and regulatory acumen,” said Myrow.
Needs a Break

Geithner has told associates he needs a break from government service after dealing with the turmoil that followed the collapse of Wall Street firms, including Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., first as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (http://topics.bloomberg.com/new-york/) and then as Treasury secretary.
Now he’s facing pressure over the debt limit. He has said the U.S. risks defaulting on its obligations if Congress doesn’t raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2. The administration and Republicans in Congress are at an impasse in negotiations over increasing the limit, which is tied to efforts to cut the nation’s long-term deficit.
Moody’s Investors Service said on June 2 that it expects to place the U.S. government’s Aaa credit rating under review for a possible downgrade if there’s no progress on the talks by mid- July. Fitch Ratings (http://topics.bloomberg.com/fitch-ratings/) said June 21 it would place the U.S. on a negative rating watch if no action is taken by Aug. 2.
“Geithner leaving may raise the level of uncertainty for the direction of economic policy, and that is never a positive thing for the markets and the recovery,” said Christopher Sullivan (http://topics.bloomberg.com/christopher-sullivan/), who oversees $1.7 billion as chief investment officer at the United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York.
No ‘Shock Value’

Still, he said, it wouldn’t have too much “shock value,” especially if Geithner remains at Treasury until the debt ceiling is settled, “which is the most pressing concern.”
Treasuries fell for a fourth day yesterday as stocks rose and a measure of U.S. business activity improved. The yield on the 10-year note rose five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 3.16 percent at 5:14 p.m. in New York.
Investors may be more interested in who would come after Geithner.
“The question in cases like this is always who will be the replacement,” said Jay Mueller (http://topics.bloomberg.com/jay-mueller/), who manages about $3 billion of bonds at Wells Fargo Capital Management in Milwaukee (http://topics.bloomberg.com/milwaukee/). “You can’t judge if this is good or bad for the market until you see who follows.”
Investors were “comfortable” with Geithner because he was “a visible player in trying to blunt the crisis,” he said.