Understanding the Financial Crisis IV: The Geithner Plan

Featuring
J.W. Verret
Assistant Professor of Law
George Mason University

Click here to view Professor Verret's Powerpoint Presentation.

Garett Jones
Assistant Professor of Economics
George Mason University

Click here to view Dr. Jones's Powerpoint Presentation.

The wait is over.  The United States Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, has presented his detailed plan to get the American Economy back to a sustainable and liquid state.  The next step is for policy makers to pass legislation that will get this plan into motion.  Policy makers and many Americans seem more than willing to try this plan, but the concern is with the outcome.  How will this plan affect the financial system and the American Economy as a whole?

In part of four of our successful ongoing series, the Mercatus Center's Financial Markets Working Group will present a panel of experts to discuss and debate aspects of the newly presented Geithner Plan. Join us as we address such questions as:

• How will the financial system react to this new kind of government involvement?
• Will private investors join the government in buying toxic assets?
• What are the cost and benefits of raising capital and risk-management standards?
• How will new regulation on financial instruments affect future financial innovation?
• What alternatives exist if the Geithner Plan does not succeed?