Geithner: In the Financial Crisis, Protecting Big Banks Was Essential

‘I don’t think there’s any hope for my legacy’

Geithner in Book Says U.S. Considered Nationalizing Banks (Bloomberg News)

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in his new book that members of the Obama administration “talked openly” about nationalizing banks such as Citigroup Inc. (C) in the aftermath of the financial crisis, according to an article in the New York Times Magazine.

Geithner disagreed when Lawrence Summers, then head of the White House’s National Economic Council, suggested to President Barack Obama that the administration “pre-emptively nationalize” banks including Citigroup and Bank of America Corp., or try to embarrass them into changing their pay structures, according to the Times. The article includes quotes from the book, “Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises,” and interviews with Geithner.

Video files
Full
Compact
Audio files
Full
Compact