joining us is john lipsky, former first deputy managing director of the imf. >> currently -- >> at johnst interview since leaving the imf. >> it is. >> last week they had the greek debt swap. was that the best possible outcome for greece and for the european economy? >> well, one thing that bothered me from the outset of this crisis has been the focus on fiscal austerity, at least in the reporting, fiscal austerity and the financing details. greece's problem's fundamentally are the loss of competitiveness within a single currency unit and the most important thing for greece is structural reforms to make that economy more productive and effective. if that doesn't happen the issues of financing details, et cetera, are just that, a detail. now this debt swap and the new program for greece and most importantly the new program, the economic program holds out the hope of real improvement in the long-term performance of the greek economy. if that is successful, then the other financing details are worth it, but the competitiveness and structural reforms as is the underlying issue. >> nobody is

the second is john lexi who is the distinguished visiting scholar -- john lipsky. he is at johns hopkins university and recently left the imf as the acting managing director. if you have any questions that you might want to lob in here, you can e-mail them to janhopkins@questiona@ econclub.org. gentlemen? [laughter] >> who is first? >> i am. mr. secretary, thank you very much for being here tonight. one of my favorite tim geithner quotes -" we saved the economy but lost the public doing it."icku i'm wondering whether it's possible to get the public backs. . >> people saw their lives depended by a set of choices mostly they did not make. they saw the world burning around them, a broad run -- the first time in memory that people face a risk of losing their savings or the steps of loss in wealth and employment. then they saw the government forced to act to rescue the people they thought were responsible fairly or unfairly. they were angry, understandably angry and scared and frustrated. i don't think there was any path through this that would have made it easy to do th

and second is john lipsky, the distinguished visiting scholar in the international economics program nd recently left the imf as the act managing director, and if you have any questions that you might want to lob in here, you can e-mail them to jan hopkins@questions. gentlemen? [laughter] >> mr. secretary, thank you very much for being here tonight. one of my favorite geithner quotes, we saved the economy but lost the public in doing it. you spoke to the first half of that at the beginning of your remarks tonight but not the second. i'm not looking to draw you back then but, rather to get your thoughts on whether it's possible and if so, how, to get the public back. >> well, remembering that people saw their lives upended by a set of choices mostly they did not make. and they saw the world burning around them. a broad run on the financial system. the first time in memory that people face the risk of losing their savings or this depth of loss in wealth and employment, and then they saw the government forced to act to rescue the people they thought were responsible. fairly or unfairly.

the second is john lipsky who is the distinguished visiting scholar in the international economics program of the polynesian school at johns hopkins university and recently left the imf as the acting managing director. and if you have any questions that you might want to lob in here, you can e-mail them to jan hopkins it's --@questions@econ club.org. [inaudible conversations] >> i need to get out my blackberry. [laughter] >> all right, who's first? >> i am. mr. secretary, thank you very much for being here tonight. one of my favorite geithner quotes is we saved the economy, but we kind of lost the public in doing it. you spoke to the first half of that at the beginning of your remarks tonight but not the second, but i'm not looking to draw you back then, but rather to get your thoughts on whether it's possible, and if so how, to get the public back. >> well, first, you know, just remembering that people saw their lives upended by a set of choices mostly they did not make. and, you know, they saw the world burning around them, you know, a broad run on the financial system the first time in