The “I’m Outta Here” Secretary

I’m out of here: Every leading member of the species Homo economicus who moved to Washington along with Barack Obama has since sought an exit. Now Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner is also longing for an end to his term, thereby revealing a strange understanding of his office.

Does Barack Obama have the plague or something? Or perhaps the president carries a mysterious mutation of the Vibrio cholerae bacteria on his skin that attacks anyone with a degree in economics on contact? There has to be some reason why almost every member of the Homo economicus species that came to Washington with Obama in 2009 has since done a runner. Now the last of Obama’s first-string team is following suit. Timothy Geithner, secretary of the Treasury and Obama’s closest economics advisor, has announced he wants to leave Washington by this fall.

Is the new motto in Washington, “I’m outta here”? None of them has yet come up with a simple explanation, like a preference for their old teaching jobs over the drudgery of government work. Geithner, on the other hand, has been the most forthcoming thus far. He said his family wanted to return to New York City. Plus, he let it slip that as a seasoned financial expert and Wall Street insider, he wanted to earn big money.

It is hard to understand why this man publicly longs for the end of his current career. Naturally, Geithner claimed he immensely enjoyed public service — first as an aspiring civil servant in the Treasury Department, then as a brilliant central banker and finally as a wise secretary of the Treasury. But at the same time, he revealed a strange disdain for his office. “I’ve never had a real job,” Geithner said, “I’ve only worked in public service.” That sounds like someone approaching his 50th birthday expressing an almost childish desire to grow up.

Patriotically speaking, Timothy Geithner most certainly earned the thanks of the nation. The plan, in view of the imminent collapse of the world financial system in September 2008, was largely his work. Accomplished on short notice, it resulted in many banks being rescued from threatening collapse. And as Obama’s Treasury secretary, he was instrumental in reining Wall Street in with stricter financial regulations.

Yet, Geithner has now also caused damage to his president and the nation by announcing his intention to flee his responsibility before he finished the job: The secretary of the Treasury is now faced with the task of putting together a budget and debt compromise with recalcitrant Republican congressional representatives before the deadline in early August. Otherwise, the nation will be threatened with no less than an inability to pay its bills, not to mention precipitating another global financial crisis. As an “I’m outta here” secretary, he now has less chance than ever for success. That should push the people closer to wishing a plague on all the houses of power in Washington.