With today’s lengthy whitepaper post on healthcare reform, I’m back in circulation. Last fall as I started to activate Up The Economy, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Department of the Treasury as the TARP auction program was being designed (my background is in auction design and technology.) As I began the work with Treasury, I felt that my continued public commentary might not be such a good idea.
My term at Treasury quickly ran its course as the policy steered away from purchasing toxic mortgage assets by auction and turned towards direct equity infusions in the banks. While confident we could have done effective auctions, I believe the policy chosen was best in the rapidly deteriorating credit markets, as evidenced by the recent repayment of TARP funds by a number of banks.