Roger Altman on the Dollar and Geithner's Rescue Plan

FT has an interesting interview with Roger Altman of Evercore.

Altman, even if the U.S. is pro a change in the reserve currency behind the scenes, answers the question about the China proposal the way Geithner should have answered it, i.e., the dollar will remain the reserve currency but China is now an important citizen so we must look at whatever they have to say.

Then he backs Geithner up in probably a stronger fashion than Geithner's mother even would. I told you he wouldn't embarrass anyone in public, but this is over the top. Makes you wonder if he is angling for Geithner's spot. Remember, he served as Deputy Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton.

His comments on the latest rescue plan are pretty much in line with what he told me at FFI. (Actually, I think I got a little more out of him than the FT interviewer, since he told me that he couldn't participate because the threshold to participate was $10 billion under management, and he also mentioned to me that the biggest problem was likely to be the banks unwillingness to sell troubled loans they have on their books, rather than the mortgage securities.

The video interview is here.