It's going to take me another day to type a reasonable response to your insight. But hey, we have the whole weekend -g-.
This FT article expresses many of my concerns..
news.ft.com
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White House officials on Friday said President George W. Bush would look for individuals who could gain the confidence of financial markets to replace Paul O'Neill and Larry Lindsey, who resigned on Friday.
In the immediate aftermath of Friday's announcements, a long list of possible replacements was trotted out by political observers, with former Senator Phil Gramm and Donald Evans, commerce secretary, seen as two of the leading candidates to replace Mr O'Neill as Treasury secretary.
The administration will be under tremendous pressure to find prominent individuals who can help restore the somewhat battered confidence in the administration's economic policy.
Top Democrats on Friday used the resignations to hammer the White House, with Senator Joseph Lieberman, a likely presidential candidate in 2004, claiming the purge of the administration's economic team highlighted the failure of Mr Bush's economic policy.
"This administration has sat back passively as the economy stagnated and the middle class suffered, offering no economic growth plan," he said.
Mr Evans may be an attractive choice, though he lacks Wall Street experience. The former oil executive is close to Mr Bush, having served as chairman of his election campaign in 2000. He also worked on the Bush gubernatorial campaigns in 1994 and 1998 and was appointed by Mr Bush to the board of regents of the University of Texas.
Mr Gramm, a former economics professor, would bring considerable political skills to the job, something that Mr O'Neill was criticised for lacking.
Mr Gramm previously chaired the Senate banking committee and was instrumental in rewriting rules for the US financial industry. He resigned from Congress earlier this year after 18 years to become a vice-chairman at UBS Warburg.
Charles Schwab, president of the brokerage firm of the same name, has also been touted as a possible candidate. He is close to Mr Bush, would bring Wall Street experience to the position, but crucially is not considered to be tainted by the financial scandals that have rocked the US corporate world over the past year.
Another contender was thought to be Richard Grasso, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. However, Mr Grasso said on Friday that he was "honoured," but felt he should stay at his post. If appointed, he could help restore investor confidence in US markets, which have suffered in the wake of the corporate scandals, most prominently at Enron and WorldCom.
Several leading financial industry executives have been mentioned as potential candidates, including Phillip Purcell, chairman of Morgan Stanley, and Donald Marron, former chairman and chief executive of Paine Webber.
Mr Marron, however, has said he would not be interested in the job. Howard Baker, a former Republican leader of the Senate who was appointed by Mr Bush to be the US ambassador to Japan, has also been touted.
Candidates to replace Mr Lindsey as White House economic adviser could include Timothy Muris, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission; Stephen Friedman, former chairman and currently board member of Goldman Sachs; and Mitchell Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House. |
