November, 25 2008, 09:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Taruna Godric, 416-916-5202 ext. 414Â Â Â Â
smcommunications@
Obamanomics: Is This Real Change?
Timothy Canova: In selecting Clinton-era figures, Obama is embracing those who helped create crisis
WASHINGTON
On
Monday, Obama announced the twin towers of his economic team, Tim
Geithner,
current head of the New York Federal Reserve, and Larry Summers, former
Treasury Secretary under Clinton, to head-up the Treasury and the White
House National Economic Council respectively. This coincided with the
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President George Bush announcement
that
they would be committing $20 Billion in capital and guaranteeing a
record $306 Billion in risky assets now belonging to CitiGroup.
The
Real News spoke to Timothy Canova of Chapman University to discuss
Obama's selections for his economic team. Tim Geithner and Larry
Summers, are to head-up the
Treasury and the White House National Economic Council respectively.
According to Canova, Geithner and Summers had "been involved in
creating a lot of the conditions that led to this financial crisis"
through their roles in the late 90's and "failure in being rewarded".
Canova feels that one of the major problems is the necessity
for regulation of the derivatives market, stating "there's so much
uncertainty, not just in the market place but among policy makers"
adding "I think we're in for a long tough ride" if some kind of
regulation is not implemented.
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
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