Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s release this week of a ‘bank stabilization plan’ reminded me of those old fast-food commercials: “Where’s the beef?” It was very odd after the big setup the night before by President Barack Obama, who in his first nationally televised press conference said he didn’t want to “scoop” Geithner’s big announcement the next day. No danger there Mr. President. Geithner turned out to be as superficial on the subject as Obama was. One of the best takes on this I saw was Cam Harvey’s Global Finance Blog on the Toronto Star website (check it out), where he said: “I was flabbergasted that the plan was so light on details. They have had 3 months to put something together and the best they could deliver is a 7-page fact sheet.” As for Geithner’s comment that the Treasury “will act to prevent the catastrophic failure of financial institutions,” Harvey commented: “There are two ways to translate this. First, he knows more than we do and he is telling us that our financial system is insolvent. Second, it is fear-mongering to get support for this.” There is a great communications lesson here. In the midst of a crisis, we need to be very careful about promoting a “big announcement,” as this one by Geithner was portrayed as being. Secondly, when emotions are running high in a crisis situation like this, when you do make it to the podium you need to be prepared with something to actually say and deliver on. Platitudes like “greater transparency” and “we’re determined to get it right” really beg for ridicule when people are losing their jobs and their homes every day across America. It seemed like Geithner either wasn’t ready, or somebody clipped his wings in terms of the specifics of his announcement. Either way, it was a big disappointment that hurt the new Treasury Secretary’s reputation so early into his tenure.
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