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I can't see the transparency
A few weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner unveiled the Financial Stability plan, the next phase of government intervention into the financial system. Geithner announced the launch of a new website, FinancialStability.gov. Here's what Geithner said about this website:
The American people will be able to see where their tax dollars are going and the return on their government's investment, they will be able to see whether the conditions placed on banks and institutions are being met and enforced, they will be able to see whether boards of directors are being responsible with taxpayer dollars and how they're compensating their executives, and they will be able to see how these actions are impacting the overall flow of lending and the cost of borrowing.
Just take a look at the site. First of all, as NPR's David Kestenbaum points out on the Planet Money blog, the Obama web team seems to be falling down on the job. It looks like an FTP site. It still says "coming soon."
Secondly, all I see are press releases and guidelines. I see nothing about "whether boards of directors are being responsible with taxpayer dollars" or "how they're compensating their executives" or "whether the conditions placed on banks and institutions are being met and enforced" or any of the things Geithner said.
Maybe it's too soon? But some of this new money has already gone out the door. What's going on with it? Geithner said this site would "give the American people the transparency they deserve." Apparently, it's so transparent, it's invisible.
When Geithner announced the plan, Marketplace commentator Robert Reich argued that the government's actions were not a model of transparency:
To date, the Fed has already committed some $2.5 trillion to rescuing the financial system, yet no one outside the Fed knows exactly how or where this money went.
And we still don't.
Timeliness is critical. I believe the mission of the site is to assess what the banks are "DOING" with the cash and not what they have "DONE" with it. If something meaningful isn't posted soon then will it really matter what gets posted? of course I am an x-gen and expect everything to happen <now>
Falling down on the job? I don't know. I think it probably is too soon to expect everything to be up and running. Six months from now... ok, but building the kind of websites the public wanted yesterday will take a little time, especially given the complexity of the data.
To be a little clearer, the "falling down on the job" part was the look and function of the website itself, not the content. On Planet Money's blog, people were suggesting this tech-savvy administration is getting a healthy dose of "welcome to bureaucracy," in their effort to get things done. I agree with you that we might have to be a little patient, but as Nyet suggests, there could something up there by now, something more than press releases.
Oh man, I just "About Scott Jagow and Scratch Pad" and I am distressed to learn that you are done with the Marketplace Morning Report. I had noticed you've been MIA for a while, but I figured you were on vacation or something. It's just not the same anymore. You are the best host! I guess I'll have to check out your podcast.
Considering the enormous task ahead for Secretary Geithner and the department, I can't blame them that the Adminstration's plan or the method of transparency is not available. You are asking private companies to open their books to the public eye and scrunity. Bear Sterns only opened its books when it was being bought out. What motives do the banks have to open their books? Also the means to maintain that accountability about where and how the taxpayers' money will be used is something that will have to be thought through carefully. The inexcusable actions of the Securities and Exchanges Commsions has shaken the public's trust in government's oversight in the markets. The fallout is so complex that in order to keep tabs on the plan and it's proclamation, resources will have to be diverted to keep up with the plan.
I would exercise patience and continue to follow what I can on Marketplace, NPR and other news sources for now, but the Obama Adminstration will have to keep it's word about trasparency of government actions.
Juan, well stated. But you're asking a lot of people at this point to be more patient when $2.5 trillion is out the door and we don't know how it's being spent. Plus, you said we're asking private companies to open their books. No. We're asking PUBLIC companies to do so. These companies have shareholders and now they have taxpayers who are shareholders. All of those shareholders deserve to know what's happening to their money. What motive do banks have to open their books? They have zero motive. But the government said it would make it happen, so, as you said, that promise better be kept.
