Geithner Faces Many Demands

多年来，华尔街都认为蒂莫西•盖特纳(Timothy Geithner)能够以同情之心倾听它的声音。现在它在吸引盖特纳的注意力方面遇到了一个对手，那就是美国选民。根据盖特纳的金融稳定计划，政府将采取一些重大举措来 兴金融体系，并提供大量资金以提振放贷活动。但美国股市周二的大幅下挫却暗示，盖特纳的这一计划远未令投资者欢欣鼓舞。批评人士认为，该计划缺乏细节内容，在一些关键领域太过谨小慎微，他们说这一计划可能因耗时太长而不具实施可行性。Associated Press美国财长盖特纳鉴于盖特纳早在去年11月时就已被确定出任财政部长，投资者对他端出这盘骨头多肉少的菜感到失望也是可以理解的。但投资者也早应意识到盖特纳目前所面临的严峻政治现实，美国纳税人和政界人士现在纷纷指责政府迄今为止是以漫不经心的方式将大量资金注入银行体系。盖特纳的金融稳定计划确实给出了令人瞠目的资金总额。该计划设想由政府和民间出资，成立一个资金规模可能高达1万亿美元的投资信托，由它出资向银行购买问题资产。除此之外，美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve)的“定期资产支持证券贷款工具”(Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility)项目现在可以贷给投资者的资金也会由以往的2,000亿美元增至1万亿美元。但政治因素的作用不容低估。虽然盖特纳强调了迅速采取大规模行动的必要性，但他也坚定表示纳税人必须得到保护。这有可能使他陷入两个目标都无法实现的尴尬处境。正因为如此，盖特纳希望由私人买家而不是政府来给不良资产定价，并提供收购这些资产所需的大部分资金。也因为这个原因，他到目前仍未透露金融稳定计划的具体细节。例如，政府并未详细阐述它可以出台哪些激励措施以吸引民间买家参与这一计划。这表明财政部遇到了一个令其犯难的巨大难题，即如何让金融稳定计划既能激起市场的兴趣，又不至花费纳税人太多的钱。这种谨慎态度是可取的。如果政府出手太过慷慨，公众对金融业救助计划的反对态度就有可能变得更加强烈，加大政府今后制定经济危机应对政策的难度。即使是一个只能完成一半的良好计划，它也要好于一系列被动应对市场变动的无章法救助行动，而后者正是外界对布什政府财政部救市行动的批评。不过，如果盖特纳想要的是立竿见影之效，他可能早就将美联储的资产收购范围扩大到一系列新领域了。毕竟，美联储近来收购按揭贷款抵押证券和商业票据的行动已经给这类资产注入了生机。美联储的这些收购行动进展迅速且没有产生什么不良政治后果。如果计划推进速度至关重要，那么盖特纳仍有选择余地。Peter Eavis相关阅读盖特纳公布金融业救助计划 2009-02-11盖特纳的公私合作博弈 2009-02-10


For years, Wall Street believed Timothy Geithner would give it a sympathetic hearing. Now it faces a rival for the Treasury secretary's attention: the American voter.Mr. Geithner's Financial Stability Plan maps out some big moves to revive the financial system and make huge sums available to boost lending. The steep slide in stocks suggests, however, that investors were far from impressed. Critics said the plan lacked detail and was too timid in key areas, and said that it could take too long to implement.Given that Mr. Geithner was slated to become Treasury secretary as far back as November, investors are right to be disappointed that there was so little meat on the bone. But investors should also have recognized the harsh political realities Mr. Geithner now faces as taxpayers and politicians rebel against the massive amount of money so far pumped into banks in an apparently haphazard fashion.The plan does have its eye-popping headline numbers. It envisions a public-private investment trust with as much as $1 trillion to spend buying troubled assets from banks. In addition, the Federal Reserve's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility could now have $1 trillion to lend to investors -- up from $200 billion.But politics played a big role. While Mr. Geithner stressed the need for rapid action on a huge scale, he was as emphatic that taxpayers must be protected. This potentially leaves him stuck in a position where he cannot fulfill both pledges.That is why he wants private buyers, rather than the government, to set prices for bad assets and to provide much of the capital required. And why he has so far kept the plan vague. For instance, there are no details on incentives the government may provide to lure private buyers into the plan. This indicates the Treasury is having great trouble working out how to juice the market without giving away too much taxpayer money.This caution makes sense. If government giveaways are too big, public opposition to the bailouts could grow even fiercer, making it harder to craft future economic policy as the crisis drags on.And a half-completed good plan is better than a series of erratic bailouts in direct response to market moves, a criticism of the previous Treasury.Still, if Mr. Geithner wanted some immediate shock and awe he could have extended Fed asset purchases into new areas. After all, recent buying of mortgage-backed securities and commercial paper has brought relief to those sectors. These were done quickly and with limited political fallout. If speed is of the essence, Mr. Geithner still has options.Peter Eavis