Treasury Secretary Geitner went to Europe last week to offer the Europeans “some advice on fixing Europe’s sovereign debt and banking problems” (according to the New York Times). One specific admonition to the finance ministers was to pump money into their economies now to try to avert a financial downturn, even as they work to reduce longer-term indebtedness. He also encouraged them to “act decisively” and to “speak with one voice.”
The Euros tend to be diplomatic, but they had difficulty holding back the guffaws. Said the Austrian finance minister: “I found it peculiar that, even though the Americans have significantly worse fundamental data than the euro zone, that they tell us what we should do. I had expected that, when he tells us how he sees the world, that he would listen to what we have to say.”
Matthew 7-3: “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?”