Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises

Choices. I’ve looked forward to reading former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s reflections on the financial crisis. His addition to the views already presented in other books by participants including Hank Paulson and Sheila Bair adds to the perspective that interested readers can gain from hearing from different players. Geithner outlines all the hard choices he and the other key players at the time had to make when facing multiple bad alternatives. Since Hilary Clinton selected “hard choices” as the title for her latest memoir, Geithner settled for Stress Test, a reference to one of the key decisions he made to evaluate the capital position of banks. The writing is straightforward, and he deflects critics often by calling attention to the paucity of alternatives that were proposed. Geithner felt strongly throughout his tenure in government service that he was trying to do the right thing; he was aware that his actions were often misunderstood; and he acknowledges that his communication skills are poor. Thanks to a good ghost writer, he communicates clearly in this book, and whether you agree or disagree with what he did, especially as Treasury Secretary, you’re likely to come away from the book concluding that he presents a cogent case for the hard choices he made. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Stress Test from amazon.com.