By Victoria McGrane
Associated Press
Sheila Bair is widely acknowledged in government circles and the media as one of the first people to identify and accurately assess the subprime crisis. Appointed by George W. Bush as the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2006, she witnessed the origins of the financial crisis and in 2008 became—along with Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Timothy Geithner—one of the key players trying to repair the damage to our economy. Bull by the Horns is her remarkable and refreshingly honest account of that contentious time and the struggle for reform that followed and continues to this day.
Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair demonstrates a talent for crafting a withering turn of phrase in her new book as noted earlier in Washington Wire. Here is a brief list of some of her top zingers.
- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner “looked like a scared little boy” at the press conference where he announced the 2009 stress test initiative. He was chosen to be Treasury Secretary “for all the wrong reasons… That ill-fated choice was painfully apparent as he struggled to get the words out, his voice at times quivering, his eyes darting nervously back and forth across the room.”
- “Was it gross incompetence or unbelievable disrespect?… Maybe the boys didn’t want Sheila Bair playing their sandbox.” – Bair on learning that other regulators didn’t loop her in on developments in rescuing Wachovia during the financial crisis.
- Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit “wouldn’t have known how to underwrite a loan if his life depended on it.”
- The Obama administration’s 2009 plan to help struggling homeowners “was doomed to failure,” “cheated borrowers” and was “designed to look good in a press release, not to fix the housing market.”
- Then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Neel Kashkari, who was heading the bank bailout-program TARP, pulled a “bait and switch” on American taxpayers by claiming that TARP wouldn’t let Treasury use the funds for mortgage modifications.
- On Mr. Paulson not having time to meet with her early on: “Clearly, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs didn’t think the head of an agency that insured $100,000 bank deposits was worth his time. That would change…”
- Ms. Bair got zinged herself by a protester outside the Treasury building during TARP negotiations, mistaking her for a “fat cat” banker as she exited. “How much did that suit cost?” the protester asked. $139 at Macy’s, Bair replied.
More
Bair on Geithner, Bankers, Obama’s Housing Plan
Video of WSJ Interview
Below, Ms. Bair talks about Mr. Geithner’s role in the bailout.
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