Geithner Interview: 1930s Comparison

On Friday, September 10 Timothy Geithner was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

During this interview, he said:

“[The] typical error most countries make coming out of a financial crisis is they shift too quickly to premature restraint. You saw that in the United States in the 30s, you saw that in Japan in the 90s. It is very important for us to avoid that mistake. If the government does nothing going forward, then the impact of policy in Washington will shift from supporting economic growth to hurting economic growth.”

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My comment:

I find this comment noteworthy as it is yet another reference to the 1930s.  Ever since the onset of the “Financial Crisis” there has been a continual flow of comparisons of our current economic situation to that of  The Great Depression.

I have written about these comparisons on numerous occasions.  As I said in the July 13, 2009 post, “…although our current period of economic weakness does have similarities to that of The Great Depression, there are notable differences as well.  To believe that both situations are very similar, and by acting accordingly, imperils our economic situation.”

A Special Note concerning our economic situation is found here

SPX at 1121.1 as this post is written