What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities

[Amelia]

What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities

Really good question

Imagine having a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, and a sore throat, and your doctor telling you that you shouldn’t worry about cancer—she consulted her colleagues and they’re certain it is not cancer, and if it were, they could fight it.

This is roughly what happened on Sunday evening, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin put out a press release on calls he held with executives from the country’s largest banks. Mnuchin’s statement assured the public that they had not been having liquidity problems or “clearance or margin” issues—the sorts of things you would worry about if the country were on the brink of a financial crisis.

It's a good article. I wouldn't have thought to post it here though until I got to the last part.

Whatever Mnuchin was trying to do, he did not succeed in it, instead stoking market fears and sowing confusion. Perhaps the clearest takeaway is that Mnuchin and Trump’s Treasury lacks the expertise to communicate clearly and forcefully with the markets—no surprise, given how few experienced financial operatives Trump has hired and how many experienced non-political civil servants have fled Treasury during this administration.

If they’re communicating this poorly in the absence of a crisis, just imagine how disastrously they might perform in the presence of one.

That last line ... yes.

 

[Mycroft]

What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities

Really good question




It's a good article. I wouldn't have thought to post it here though until I got to the last part.




That last line ... yes.

shrug...

A lot of people...especially the useful idiots here at DP...seem to think the economy is in a crisis. Right now. Even though it's not.

In any case, I think Mnuchin isn't directing his actions at Wall Street. He's directing his actions at business owners who might think this Wall Street nonsense will make it harder for them to obtain financing for their businesses. This information from the banks is a reassurance for them.

But, you know, the Wall Street chicken littles (you know, those speculators and their computers) will let anything trigger them and cause them to run around yelling, "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!"

 

[Superfly]

What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities

Really good question




It's a good article. I wouldn't have thought to post it here though until I got to the last part.




That last line ... yes.

Just closed at what, -633? The lowest Christmas Eve ever.

 

[Amelia]

shrug...

A lot of people...especially the useful idiots here at DP...seem to think the economy is in a crisis. Right now. Even though it's not.

In any case, I think Mnuchin isn't directing his actions at Wall Street. He's directing his actions at business owners who might think this Wall Street nonsense will make it harder for them to obtain financing for their businesses. This information from the banks is a reassurance for them.

But, you know, the Wall Street chicken littles (you know, those speculators and their computers) will let anything trigger them and cause them to run around yelling, "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!"

Um, that's the point .... supposedly it isn't a crisis. And if reassurance was Mnuchin's goal, he widely missed the mark.

Hence the last line of the article: "If they’re communicating this poorly in the absence of a crisis, just imagine how disastrously they might perform in the presence of one."

 

[Greenbeard]

No one's this dumb, these grifters are short-selling something.

 

[PoliSciXtina]

shrug...

A lot of people...especially the useful idiots here at DP...seem to think the economy is in a crisis. Right now. Even though it's not.

In any case, I think Mnuchin isn't directing his actions at Wall Street. He's directing his actions at business owners who might think this Wall Street nonsense will make it harder for them to obtain financing for their businesses. This information from the banks is a reassurance for them.

But, you know, the Wall Street chicken littles (you know, those speculators and their computers) will let anything trigger them and cause them to run around yelling, "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!"

We are not in crisis mode yet but don’t you agree that these market losses can’t be a good sign? There have been sustained losses day after day after day. We are seeing more of a larger pattern here. You want to just ignore that?? No, not crisis yet, but feels like we are certainly headed there!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rexedgar]

“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”

Captain Edward Smith, referring to Adriatic






Later Captain Smith would take the HMS Titanic on it’s maiden voyage..........

 

[Unitedwestand13]

“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”

Captain Edward Smith, referring to Adriatic






Later Captain Smith would later take the HMS Titanic on it’s maiden voyage..........

I think that in hindsight, Captain smith’s years of experience as a captain would have been of a better quality if he had experienced some manner of crisis during his career and was forced to be a leader in a difficult situation. But that quote you cited shows how unprepared for a crisis captain smith was

 

[DaveFagan]

I think Mnuchin was attemoting to get the banks to toe the line and buy into the markets to stoop the fall. Also checking for liquidity to be ready for another bank bailout a la 2008. I personally think our economy is a house of cards and the subject to constant manipulation because we are the World Reserve Currency and one of its' largest debtor Nations. We operate on the brink continually. Our gov't has been operating on loans. Big loans. That's reality. Be careful. The loans might be called in.
/

 

[jnug]

I doubt Mnuchin was thinking anything. He was calling from vacation in Cabo, Mexico. So do we really think Mnuchin was doing more than responding to a request from Bozo the President to call the banks. I don't have much respect for Mnuchin but:
a) I doubt he was much engaged from vacation in Cabo, Mexico
b) that call was way too STUPID a call to make to have been hatched between Mnuchin's ears. Now between Donald's ears....yup...well within the range of possibility.

 

[Mycroft]

Um, that's the point .... supposedly it isn't a crisis. And if reassurance was Mnuchin's goal, he widely missed the mark.

Hence the last line of the article: "If they’re communicating this poorly in the absence of a crisis, just imagine how disastrously they might perform in the presence of one."

Did Mnuchin call anything a crisis? I don't think so.

It's only the talking potato heads saying that kind of stuff.

 

[Mycroft]

We are not in crisis mode yet but don’t you agree that these market losses can’t be a good sign? There have been sustained losses day after day after day. We are seeing more of a larger pattern here. You want to just ignore that?? No, not crisis yet, but feels like we are certainly headed there!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These market losses are a bad sign in that they show the power of the Fed to falsely influence stocks and the paranoia of the speculators. These market losses haven't done a thing to Main Street.

So yes. I easily ignore the chicken littles and I condemn the Fed. I don't care about the speculators and their losses. I am sympathetic to the 401k owners who are getting shafted by the Fed and the speculators. But the worst of it all is that, if the Fed keep on with their course of action, they'll stifle Main Street. That'll be very bad for American business and American workers.

 

[Amelia]

Did Mnuchin call anything a crisis? I don't think so.

It's only the talking potato heads saying that kind of stuff.

And still you miss the point.

The first part of the article again:

Imagine having a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, and a sore throat, and your doctor telling you that you shouldn’t worry about cancer—she consulted her colleagues and they’re certain it is not cancer, and if it were, they could fight it.

Mnuchin is calling around trying to generate assurances that there's not a crisis. Why do that?

It's like calling out "nothing to see here" when no one was really all that worried. So why do that if there's really nothing to see?

Mnuchin's actions were out of the ordinary. They appear to be aimed at quelling concerns. They were not effective to that end. If they had some other purpose, then what?

It's just one more episode in the administration's keystone kopps routine.

How oddly they're acting when things are supposedly okay does raise warning signs about how they'll act if something really does go wrong.

 

[<alt>doxygen]

No one's this dumb, these grifters are short-selling something.

I had that thought the first time a Trump tweet-o-lie made the market move 500 points.

If I had that power I'd only need to do it a few times...

 

[sangha]

What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities

Really good question




It's a good article. I wouldn't have thought to post it here though until I got to the last part.




That last line ... yes.

Another concern is the possibility that in the presence of a crisis, Trumps appointees will focus on currying favor with him instead of focusing on a solution

 

[Mycroft]

And still you miss the point.

The first part of the article again:





Mnuchin is calling around trying to generate assurances that there's not a crisis. Why do that?

It's like calling out "nothing to see here" when no one was really all that worried. So why do that if there's really nothing to see?

Mnuchin's actions were out of the ordinary. They appear to be aimed at quelling concerns. They were not effective to that end. If they had some other purpose, then what?

It's just one more episode in the administration's keystone kopps routine.

How oddly they're acting when things are supposedly okay does raise warning signs about how they'll act if something really does go wrong.

Actually, there is a real danger that further increases by the Fed will make it harder for businesses to get financing. That is what Mnuchin was reassuring them about.

But your right. I disregard the point of the article because it's nonsense.