Do WE need another Wall Street thug for Treasury Secretary? UPDATE: Too late for Krugman!

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Hell, NO!

See end for UPDATE!

Why not Paul Krugman then?

Robert Naiman, of Just Foreign Policy,  thinks it would be an excellent idea if Paul Krugman were appointed Treasury Secretary:

Why not Paul Krugman?

He has a Nobel prize in Economics. He’s proven his ability to communicate economic knowledge to the multitude. And he’s a fierce opponent of cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits and the austerity dogma more generally, which as economic policy has a track record of spectacular failure around the world. As Treasury secretary, Krugman would make job creation his top priority.

The Treasury secretary doesn’t just oversee domestic US economic policy. The Treasury secretary also oversees international US economic policy. The United States executive directors at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank report to the secretary of the Treasury. As Treasury secretary, if Paul Krugman decides that the United States isn’t going to tolerate IMF support for cruel and destructive economic austerity policies in Europe and elsewhere, he’ll have the power to bring that about. Since the United States is far and away the most powerful country in the IMF and the World Bank, that would be a world-historic change. . . . .     Save Social Security: Paul Krugman for Treasury Secretary.

Mark Weisbrot, of guardian.co.uk, seems to feel quite the same:

Why Paul Krugman should be President Obama’s pick for US treasury secretary. Not only is he the world’s best-known economist, Krugman has the intellect and integrity to resist Wall Street’s calls for austerity.

President Obama hasn’t picked a treasury secretary yet for his second term, so he has a chance to do something different.

He could ignore what Wall Street and conservative media interests want and pick somebody who would represent what the electorate voted for. And not even just the people who voted for him: there are a lot of Republican voters out there who are also unemployed.

I know what you are thinking: this is impossible. There is too much money and power on the other side of this idea. Well, maybe.

And, Actor Danny Glover, thinks Paul Krugman is a good choice, too, and worked with Just Foreign Policy to create a Petition, on SignOn.org, which states, in part:

We want President Obama to nominate Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who opposes austerity and wants the government to focus on creating jobs.

That’s why I created a petition on SignOn.org to President Barack Obama, which says:

    We urge you to nominate Paul Krugman for Treasury Secretary. Krugman will

    protect Social Security and Medicare from benefit cuts, promote policies

    to create jobs, and help defeat the austerity dogma in Washington and around

    the world.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

-Danny Glover

(P.S.  As of this moment, there are already 215543 signatures in just 2 days!)

And, last but not least, this guy says it in song:

Krugman?  He doesn’t sound too shabby to me!!!* 😉

(* even if I don’t necessarily always agree with him)

UPDATE:  President Barack Obama is expected, as early as Thursday, to announce that he has picked White House chief of staff Jack Lew to succeed departing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.  “Why Obama likes Lew to lead Treasury”