the matter wrong relating to royalties from oil and gas leases and that ever will cost the united states treasury upwards of $20 billion and the thought that it was important to go to the court for that. any number of interest we will think about, but we will also think about how will look from the court's perspective. we know that they count on us to take into account its own set of criteria and standards for deciding on petitions. in terms of oppositions, -- there are so many to write. in a decision the united states as one is being called into question. . . serious questions, questions were the court would want to hear from an opposing party. we basically look at all of them. about half of them, we just wave our opposition rights. we look at them and we said that it is not really a serious question -- we look at them, and we say that it is not really a serious question and we do not have to oppose it. sometimes, we get it wrong. sometimes, the court says to us, you waive your opposition rights, but we think that this raises serious questions, and we wanted to file an opposition here. in that c

controversial with the other countries involved at the g-20 summit but it's important to the united states. and treasury secretary timothy quitener just a little while ago came out and said that he wants to see the dollar preserved as the world global reserve currency and in order to do that we have to bring our budget deficit down. but we also have to accomplish this rebalancing so the world doesn't have these huge financial mismatches. >> does that mean that the dollar is actually going to be on the agenda at this meeting? >>. >> the dollar is kind of always on the agenda whether formally or informally. basically the dollar is brought up because it can often be a proxy for how trade flows are going and in the past t has been the case that the united states wants to see other country as just their currencies. so it may not explicitly talk about the dollar per se but it's in the background. it's a measure of how these imbalances are working. how big they are and kind of pressure in the global system to bring it more into alignment. >> in terms of financial regulatory reform, what is it that the germans

government began bailout nation, which was $700 billion in tax money that was given to the united states treasury secretary for the purpose of stabilizing america's financial situation. let's take just a brief history at what's happened in the united states in just less than one year's time. this congress appropriated essentially a blank check to the treasury secretary of $700 billion, a blank check. the treasury secretary literally could do anything he wanted to do with that $700 billion. that $700 billion went to the treasury secretary. it's gone to bail out banks. it's gone to bail out insurance companies. and it's gone to set up the automobile task force. in that time we have seen $700 billion go not only for that bailout, we also saw $29 billion go to bear stearns to shore up that investment banking house. we also saw $200 billion go for fannie and freddie, the secondary mortgage company, because remember all of this began with the meltdown in the housing industry. so we thought first of all money needed to go to bail out the secondary mortgage provider. almost all loans today in the united

the congress of the united states designed the authority treasury was provided. >> mr. secretary, you have the ability under the programs that you designed to say here are the metrics -- >> and i'm giving you them, but this is the great virtue of this program. you can see not just the return we're getting when people repay, price we're getting relative to the market, but you can see directly program by program what's happening to credit conditions which is the ultimate test of what we're trying to do. that's the great virtue. can do better than that -- >> if what's happening in the credit markets is the ultimate test and again we can question cause and effect, you know, clearly the libor ois spreads one month were incredible back in the crisis in september of '08. by the time your administration took office, they went down from 300 basis points to 20 basis points. now, since your administration has come into power, apparently they're down to ten basis points. certainly that's an improvement. but it sounds like a lot of this happened on the previous watch. again, i don't

world where the united states is the leader and there's no question about it and when i had responsible positions in the united states government, whether it's the federal reserve or the treasury, you know, gould to a meeting, you were the chairman of the board, so to speak, wherever the seat was. and i think these institutions need kind of coherent leadership. and how do you get it when the membership of the club is and should be more diversified? >> rose: and is it inevitable in your observation that china and the united states are going to have different priorities? >> well, i think hopeful thing is in a big sense, in the economic world i think they have the same priorities. china's growing, it's got to grow, it's got a big employment problem. it's going to be become a big manufacturing hub. we will want to import from china. we want to export to china, too. we've got to get a more balanced relationship, but i don't think that balanced relationship is inherently antagonistic. >> rose: certainly not a zero-sum game. >> not at all. >> rose: and we should be encouraged by their development and their growth because... >> well, be better accommodated to in a way that satisfies u

simultaneous evaluation of the capital positions of the largest bank holding companies in the united states, where the treasury committing to provide public capital as needed. this exercise, unprecedented in scale and scope, was led by the federal reserve and the cooperation with the office of the comptroller of currency and the fdic. importantly, they agencies' report made public considerable information on the projected losses and revenues of the 19 firms, allowing private analysts to judge for themselves the credibility of the edge aside. financial market participants responded favorably to the announcement of the results, and many of the tested banks were subsequently able to tap public capital markets. overall, the policy actions implemented in recent months have helped stabilize a number of key financial markets, both in the united states and abroad. short-term funding markets are functioning more normally, corporate bond issuance has been strong, and activity in some previously -- previously moribund securitization markets have picked up. stock prices have partially recovered, and u.s. mortgage rates ha

the only guy i would really care about would be the treasury secretary of the united states and i got it and i'm thrilled. i am. just thrilled. >> everyone chuckles because it was a funny pom last night. you're right. there was a level of seriousness there and i'm glad that you're happy, jim. we wanted to share that. >> by the way, you know, we see credit default spreads, a lot of guys were talking about treasuries. we have now really gotten to the point where we're at the top of the heap in credit default swaps the right way. people are not betting against u.s. treasuries. there's a remarkable rally. sure, we're down this we're but that was because last year the economy was supposed to collapse. this is a robust treasury market. i wish people would be positive about the positives. there are a lot of negatives to be negative about. >> how low will rates go? when you think about the -- how much gain you could possibly get from where you are right now. >> i know, but why do we say -- we are now -- we are at the moment where america is going to be ascendant in banking. i think the quarte

in bringing down the msive trade defit inhe united states, and the correspondin trade surpluses inhina and germany. still, tim adams, a former assistant treasury sectary for international affair says countrs pay more attention to each otherhan they do to economts or international financial institutions. >> so, i think peer prsure matters, and if we say we' gointo do something, then our frnds around the table should hold us accountabl >> reporte but critics like economist simojohnson are disappointed lders failed to tackle the toughssues of financl regulatory reform. >> iterms of what they could have done pittsburgh, reasonably and realistally day-- setting up a framework a detail and specific framework to manage the ilure of major multi-natiol banks is a comptely reasonable request- - and they completely opped the ball othat. >> reporte the real test for many g20 leaders wl come when they return home andave to deliver the reformthey have promis. thobama administration is already facing a tough tim getting its financial regutory overhaul thrgh congress. darren gersh"nightly business report," washington. >> susie: birre developments today on wha

in bringing down theassive trade decit in the united states, and the correspondg trade surpluses china and german still, tim adams, a form assistant treasury sretary for international affas, says counies pay more attention to each oth than they do to econists or international financial institutions. >> so, i think peer essure matters, and if we say wre going too something, then our friendaround the table should hold us accountable. >> reporter: b critics like economist simon joson are disappointed leade failed to tackle the tough isss of financial gulatory reform. >> in tes of what they could have done in ptsburgh, reasonably and realistical toda- setting up a framework, a detailed a specific framework to manage the faile of major multi-national nks is a complete reasonable request- - and they completely dropd the ball on th. >> reporter: t real test for many g20 leaders will me when they return home and havto deliver the reforms th have promised. the oba administration is ready facing a tough time tting its financial regulato overhaul throughongress. darren gersh, "nhtly business rert," washington. >> susie: bizarrdevelopments day on what

evaluation of the capital positions of 19 of the largest bank holding companies in the united states, with the treasurycommittee to provide -- treasury committing it to provide public capital if needed the goal was to ensure that the equity held by these firms was sufficient in quantity and quality to allow the institutions to withstand a worse-than-expected economic environment over two years and yet remain healthy and capable of lending to creditworthy borrowers. this exercise, unprecedented in scale and scope, was led by the federal reserve in cooperation with the office of the comptroller of the currency and the fdic. the agency's report made public considerable information on the projected losses and revenues of the 19 firms, allowing private analysts to judge for themselves the credibility of the exercise. in to market participants responded favorably to the announcement of the results, and many of the tested banks was subsequently able to tap the capital markets. overall, the policy actions implemented in recent months have helped stabilize a number of key financial markets both in the and and s

during his tenure as secretary of the treasury in the clinton administration, the united states marked the longest sustained economic growth in our history. internationally, he focused on addressing the challenges presented by modern capital markets. his work with the international monetary fund contributed to a more effective surveillance of financial vulnerabilities, greater transparency, and -- in the global finance the system and the introduction of new lending facilities to deal with accountable account crises. he was also a key figure in securing significant expansion in aid for the world's poorest and most indebted countries. this led to an increase in healthcare and education in a number of the world's neediest countries. at the end of the clinton administration, dr. summers returned to cambridge, where he served as the president of harvard university. he has a bachelor's degrees in economics from mit, a ph.d. in economics from harvard. his research contributions were recognized when he received the john bates clark medal, given every two years to the outstanding american econo

threatening to blow up bombs and the united states -- in the united states, that is not good. jane: wait until you hear what the treasuryt is the treasury watchdog saying about the tarp plan? and a little girl trapped inside. wait until you meet the hero want to know how fast it took my stiff joints to feel better? one pack. 6 days. that's elations. new elations. clinically proven to improve joint comfort... in as little as six days. drinking it every day keeps it working. elations has clinically proven levels... of glucosamine and chondroitin, in a powerful form that's more absorbable... than joint supplement pills. tastes great. goodbye, horse pills. start your joints on the road to comfort... in one pack, six days. that's elations. the new standard in joint health. jon: a quick-thinking you talk- teenager -- utah teenager is a hero today. he was driving to his home in utah when he saw an suv have its tire blowout and roll into a ditch. he helped a mother get her three kids out of the vehicle. it was sinking, and the mother was screaming that her 3-year- old daughter was still trapped inside. the teenager drove in, pu

united states. i would rather participate there. >> would you be selling treasury bonds, peter? >> i don't own any to sell. if i had them i would certainly sell them. >> why would you sell them? >> because the government has undermined the value of the dollar. the dollar is going to lose a lot of value. all treasuries are are promises to be paid dollars in the future. the dollar will lose a lot of value in the future so why would you want to own a receipt for dollars? those aren't my only choices. >> jeff, on the way out, as an optimist about the stock market, i want to ask you what could go wrong? what is your biggest fear? >> there are several but to narrow them, protectionism is the number one and reinflation. if policymakers make mistakes and inflation gets out of control that's a big enemy. >> how long in view of your concerns, how long can the rally go? we're coming into the fourth quarter of 2009. if it get pushed into 2010, when you sell? when would you contemplate selling? did it cross your mind? >> there are certainly levels at which, maybe 1200 on the s&p. but it's th

the congress of the united states designed the authity treasury was provided. >> mr. secretary, you have the ability under the programs that you decideo say here other metrics. >> and i'm giving you than. but again this is a great virtue of this program. you can see much of the retargeting when people repay, price we are getting bolted to the market. but you can see directly program by program what's happening credit conditions which is the ultimate test of what we're trying to do. that is the great virtue. you can do better than that. >> let me ask. of what is happening in the crit markets is the ultimate test, and again we can question cause and effect, you know, clearly the libor spreads one month were incredible back in the crisis in september of 2008. by the time your adminisation took office, they went down from 300 basis points to 20 basis points. now, since your administration has come into power, apparently they are down to 10 basis points. so certainly that is an improvement. but it sounds like a lot of this happened on the previous watch. again, i don't kno

united states. while the fed and treasury scrambled with lehman, they knew whatever happened would have huge affectspart of the whole story. i sat down recently an exclusive interview with european bank's jean-claude for his recollections. >> at what point did you feel pretty certain there was not going to be only a private or public solution but no sloog at all? >> it was the end of the weekend. we knew that it was unfortunately the bankruptcy that would be the solution. of course then immediately it triggered for us, as well as for all i would say sister central banks the sentiment that we had to prepare for something which was really big. really big. >> in hindsight, given the cost that has been exacted from the planet because of lehman's failure and the cascading event that happened after it, was it a mistake to let it fail? >> lehman was a trigger but you could have another trigger. lehman could have been saved, but aig wouldn't have been saved and you would have the exact same thing. even if lehman and aig was saved, a new entity would have problems. it seems to me we have to fully recognize w

overall, across the united states, as of august 28, treasury has outlined a about $45 billion of the estimated $49 billion in recovery act funds projected for use in state and locality -- and localities in 2009. these funds to states and localities are just a subset of the overall expenditure is going out this year that you talked about which include the tax provisions and direct payments to individuals, as well as others. the $45 billion is a sizable amount of my great more than 3/core -- 3/4 of the funds has gone out. as of september 1, the department of transportation obligated about $18 billion for almost 7000 highway infrastructure and other eligible projects. dot has reimbursed about $1.4 billion to pay for these 7000 projects. almost half of the obligations across the nation have been part pavement in "-- improvement projects. we reported in july that the single audit reporting deadline does not provide audit results in time to address identified problems. we also noted that state auditors needed additional flexibility in funding to undertake their added single audit act respon

treasury the money? their bottom of the bar will raise taxes or reduce spending elsewhere. pearl last 50 years the total program government spending in the united states has consumed about one out of every $5 created in the economy about 20 percent of gdp. when the contracts of security and medicare medicaid there want to be 25% of gdp own estimate some fundamental changes. that doesn't count for defense spending or any shells would happen if one protector borders among your education course system you can see total federal spending rise from 20% to 3035 even 4 percent in the lifetime of our schoolchildren. we appreciate your sharing with us but jeffrey along with us finance professor at the university of illinois. online items the latest trends in vending machines...from touch screens and credit card readers - to eco friendly machines ...how the industry is trying to survive the recession. plus...some family members of bernie madoff are now becoming targets because of their possible roles in the biggest ponzi scheme in history...you can find these stories and more on our website, first businessx.com. and straight ahead on the show... the global fight

the united states, that congress has legislated in the emergency stabilization act arrange a very important new authority. >> what in the constitution could you point to to give authority to the treasuryor the extraordinary actions that have been taken? >> every action that the treasury and the fed and the fdic has been using authority granted by this body, by the congress. >> and in the constitution, what could you point to? >> under the laws of the land, of course. >> if you could point to what point in the constitution would give authority to the federal reserve? ought congress has the right to authorize funds which is what they did in the tarp program. we have taken it solely for protecting the american economy from the effects of a financial collapse. >> the constitution as almost every justice will tell you is, in fact, a living document. the constitution moves with us through time and space. it is a living document that we all must adopt within the confines in which we live. >> do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states? >> i do. >> it turns out, we actually need an international criminal court. we actually need one. it served t

. >>> secretary the treasury, tim geithner saying that the strong dollar is in the interest the of the united states had a dollar every time that was said, i would be a rich woman. >>> who was the biggest gainer in the s&p 500 after it knocked the cover of earnings? we have the ceo of surging software firm red hat right after the break. >>> welcome back. we're about 35 minutes into the research in motion conference call. jim goldman has been monitoring that call. jim, what is the latest? ia yeah, melissa, they just opened up to question and answers. the key bulletins in the call but not in the press release when those earnings came ought out. again, that's a little bit lower than the 9.5, the 9.8 million that wall street was anticipating. rimm also anticipating average selling prices, those asps of $320 in the third quarter. and the reason for the decline, according to jim basseli, the company's co-ceo there is because of the higher priced blackberries scheduled to come out are going to come out toward the end of the third quarter and that is going to affect the asps ahead of that, because again the

. >>> secretary the treasury, tim geithner saying that the strong dollar is in the interest the of the united states dollar every time that was said, i would be a rich woman. >>> who was the biggest gainer in the s&p 500 after it knocked the cover of earnings? we have the ceo of surging software firm red hat right after the break. hey, it's great to see you're back after that accident. well...i couldn't have gotten by without aflac! is that different from health insurance? well yeah... ...aflac pays you cash to help with the bills that health insurance doesn't cover. really? well, if you're hurt and can't work, who's going to help pay for gas? ..the mortgage, all kinds of expenses? aflacc it's the protection you need to stay ahead of the game... exactly! aflac. we've got you under our wing. aflac, aflac, aflac... aflac, aflac, aflac >>> welcome back. we're about 35 minutes into the research in motion conference call. jim goldman has been monitoring that call. jim, what is the latest? ia yeah, melissa, they just opened up to question and answers. the key bulletins in the call but not in the press rel

during his tenure as the secretary of the treasury, and the clinton administration, the united states marked the longest period of sustained economic growth in the history. internationally he focused on addressing the challenges presented by bader capital markets. his work with international monetary fund contributed to a more effective surveillance of financial liabilities, greater transparency and the global financial system and the introduction of new lending facilities to deal with capital account crises. he was also a key figure in securing the sycophant expansion and debt relief for the world's progress most indebted countries. this led to increase in available funds for health care and education and a number of the world's neediest nations. at the end of the clinton administration, dr. summers returned to cambridge where he served as the president of harvard university. he has a bachelor's degree in economics from mit, ph.d. from harvard. his research contributions were recognized when he received the john bates clark medal given every two years to the outstanding american econ

i think the treasury, the fed policymakers in the united states have to be concerned down the road. >'re doing to hear more from -- you said it earlier, bill, bob, and dan. uh-huh, yeah, all righty, then. billy bob could be one guy. >> uh-huh. >> i hit you in the head and just kill you. pennsylvania governor ed rendell join us at 8:30 eastern time. economy, health care and host of the g-20 coming up on "squawk box." we'll be right back. >>> up next, playing host to the g-20 summit, pennsylvania governor ed rendell will be the special guess. we'll hit on everything from fixing the economy to america's health care crisis. stay right here. "squawk box" will be right back. everyone awaits the return of the fishing boats. ♪ their safe arrival is highly anticipated, ♪ as is something else. a shipment of natural sea salt from cargill, essential for preserving the catch. we deliver the salt on precise schedules... and ship it efficiently all along the alaskan coast; saving the fishermen money, and their catch. this is how cargill works with customers. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 if i'm breathing, i'

what the solicitor general of the united states, elena kagan, will say to the supreme court next wednesday. in her brief, she argues that the use of corporate treasury funds is "inherently likely to corrode the political system, both by actually corrupting public office holders and by creating the appearance of corruption." do you think that is a justifiable concern? >> i don't think it's true. i also know the record from the mcconnell case. god knows how long it is, and there wasn't any proof of corruption. so, my reaction is, i think she's exaggerating on the one hand, and i think she's ignoring on the other because she doesn't even acknowledge that this is a free speech issue. we are confronted with competing values here, and the values of speech are at odds in this area with the desire of well-meaning and very serious people to do what they think they should to make the system work better. and my view is that the speech interests here are very high, very important, very serious, and that when you take them into account, you can't sustain the sort of statutes that we now have on the books and that the supreme court is, essentially, taking a secon

so the united states has got to be very judicious, very, very measured in taking that dollar down. look, we talked a few moments ago, the 90-day treasury bill is nine basis points. so the bond markets at the short end are still expecting a very choppy, anemic recovery that the consumer does not come back to. the stock markets are pricing in, and look, we had so much damage, it fell 57%. they're pricing in a much smarter, morrow bust advance right now than the bond market is. beal see who's right, scott. >> isn't it true, david, that the consumer doesn't necessarily have to be there at the beginning of the recovery? can't the consumer come in a little bit later and isn't that traditionally happens anyway? >> they better come in over the holidays. >> you have the traditionally, the united states of america, your recession has been manufacturing, autos and housing. today, manufacturing is a less important part of the economy. you used to have 18 million workers, now you've got 11 million people in manufacturing, okay? it's less important. the cash for clunkers helped a little bit on the short-term basis. and housing has started to turn up

him say the treasury ought to be the central control aid with regard to systemic risk, inserting himself very directly in a highly contentious political fight right here in the united states. not a matter of being on the left or right, but a matter of taking a different position from where the obama position is. >> bob, how did you read that? it's a terribly important point. he basically said, look, the treasury is more directly accountable to congress and, hence, the taxpayers, bob, for these bailouts. how did you read that? you're right. i asked him, you're putting yourself smack in the middle of this incredible debate going on in washington. from a world bank president, it was unusual to say the least. >> it was very surprising. world bank and, in fact, all the central banks of this country, of the rest of the world, have been moving away from politics towards more and more independence and that's the stake in the ground that they maintained to a far greater extent than ever before. for the president of the world bank so say we need to move back toward more political accountability is the stuff of which headlines are made. i don't know why he said that. when you're tal

overall, across the united states as of august 28th, the most recent data that we have, treasury outlaidabout $45 billion the estimated $49 billion in fisl year2009. i should mention or just to underscore, these funds to states and localities are just a subset of the overall expenditures going out this year that you, mr. chairman, talked about and mr. neighbors talked about, which include, obviously, the tax -- the tax provisions and direct payments t individuals as well as others. nonetheless, it's $45 billion is a sizable amount of money. more than 3/of the fedal outlays have been provided by increasing medicaid and the department ofducation state fiscal stabilizationfund. in addition as of september 1, the department of transportation obligated about $18 billion for almost 7,000 highway infrastructure, and other eligible projects. d.o.t. has reimbursed states about $1.4 billiof to pay for these 7,000 projects. across the nation, almost half of the obligations had been for payment improvement projects. half of the highway obligations. in with regards to accountability, we repord in jul

treasury market. checking the yield right now on the bund, it is climbing at 3.25%. we have the united states government auctioning off another $70 billion in debt over the next few days or so and the yield on the 10-year t-notoriety now cinching down at 3.43%. as i alluded to a moment ago, all that glitters is not just louisa's necklace, but it is gold. gold is above $1,000 for the first time since last february, so we're looking at a six month high here. or the gold buying season kicking in, it is sitting right now at $1,003.55 per troy ounce. louisa. >> you're right, it isn't just my necklace, silver, but your eyes, of course, mike, through everything that glitters. >> thanks. >> let's show you the ftse cnbc global 300 index. at least one of us thought that was fuvenny and show you the markets are higher by approximately 0.6% here as we head towards the middle of trade here this morning in europe. i want to mention bmw is out with august sales on the year. january to august sales for the bmw brand down by 18% on the year. and they're looking at -- well, the overall sales, the figure that y

united states. why aren't we seeing the dollar move as strongly as gold inflation is up? wouldn't be see investors selling the dollar and treasuries more? >> that's the assumption, that the rally in gold has more to do with inflation and not to do with really wears that maybe the exit strategy is going to be too soon and we're going to have those economies in economic growth slow back down again. that may be more of the fair than inflation. i think the confidence we want to see in this economic global recovery has started to wane. that's why this weekend in the events of the payroll and the g-20 finance ministers' meeting is going to be important. it's a case of the markets trying to get a feel. let's face it, for the last couple of weeks, most cases have been on the beaches and around america. they're starting to make their investment strategies for the rest of the year. they're going to have to make some keen decisions here. >> coming up in the next hour of "worldwide exchange," joseph stig let's says the for double dip recovery sg growing. (announcer) we understand. you need to save money. >>> i'm mike huckman in the united sta

congress department, the state department, the treasury, everyone who has some sort of stake in american manufacture to go try to craft a manufacturing policy that's best for the united states and also puts manufacturing competitiveness front and center. here's what they face. manufacturing over the past 30 years has been declining in employment quite dramatically. this of course is the industry that built the american middle class. 40,000 factories have closed just in the past ten years. 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2000. 2.3 million manufacturing jobs lost just to china since 2001. since china entered the world trade organization, our trade deficit has reached record proportions of just so far this year i think we've imported $103 billion more than we've exported to china and that's even in the middle of a recession. and we know from the people who worked at whirlpool that we're also moving jobs to mexico and a lot of other countries, as well. why do these jobs leave is this because other countries don't have american laws. they pay 30 cents an hour, they don't have environmental standard, they can dump something right into a river, they can po

united states. >> so you want to change the fiscal policy. once again it's not a united country here. there are those that say the most important thing we do is new regulations proposed by treasury secretary geithner. that's what we said about enron, we have to do something about horrible mismanagement and we did. sarbanes oxley turns out to be an overreaction where we went too far. you're seeing listings on new york stock exchange decline, listing in london and elsewhere, because of the burden, reporting requirements placed on companies in the united states. that's not to mention the tax break. we had the second highest tax break in the globe. that's one of the reasons. when you talk about our economy, the word that hasn't been used by the president or very often in dialogue is jobs. that's what it comes down to. we need more jobs. when you're forcing businesses that build a new plato because of the comes disparity and tax disparity, it means our economy is not going to create the jobs we need to get out of this recession. i think we need some fairly dramatic change in fiscal policies so we don't have these massive deficits, largest in history, so we can do something to stimula

during his tenure as secretary of the treasury in the clinton administration, the united states marked longest sustained economic growth in our history. internationally, he focused on addressing the challenges presented by modern capital markets. his work with the international monetary fund contributed to a more effective surveillance of financial vulnerabilities, greater transparency, and -- in the global finance the system and the introduction of new lending facilities to deal with accountable account crises. he was also a key figure in securing significant expansion in aid for the world's poorest and most indebted countries. this led to an increase in healthcare and education in a number of the world's neediest countries. at the end of the clinton administration, dr. summers returned to cambridge, where he served as the president of harvard university. he has a bachelor's degrees in economics from mit, a ph.d. in economics from harvard. his research contributions were recognized when he received the john bates clark medal, given every two years to the outstanding american economist

united states. that wouldn't be the right way to proceed, in my judgment. >> should chairman bear go to treasury foroney, for credit, or should she take loans from the banks? >> that's up to sheila bair. she has been a great regulator, and has a lot of support on the hill shall bipartisan support. i don't think it's going one way or the other. it's what's more efficient, what's more effective and what can be done quickly? we have to allow her judgment and look at it later on. y think there could be any fundamental error there that could cause extraordinary problems one way or another. it's a matter of convenience. >> are you worried about how many bullets the fdic has in the revolver if, in fact, a huge number of banks start failing as we head into the end of the year? >> we certainly have to make sure it's well equipped to handle any failures that occur. we know there's a possibility of 300 to 400 very weak banks, many of which probably will fail. but so far, they've been very successful in either merging those banks, taking them out over weekends, reconstituting them. now they need some support ei

united states and cuban governments helped facilitate the concert. including providing juanez and his company of 15 international and cuban artists full control over message and staging. the departments of state, treasury and commerce and especially secretary of state hillary clinton ought to be commended for providing in record time the various licenses and authorities required for u.s. musicians, technicians, musical and production equipment to travel and enter cuba. this is the second peace without borders concert organized by juanez in what he hopes will be a series of concerts in the atmosphere in places where people, if not -- in the hemisphere in places where people, if not politicses will be open to a message of change and young people. the first such concert took place last year on the peace bridge on the border of colombia and venezuela when military tensions escalated between the two countries. i applaud juanez and all of the participating artists for their courage, their vision and commitment to working together to communicate directly to the cuban people through the language of music. more than just a rock concert, this massive cultural event in havana was a moving and emotional testament,

attorney general, secretary treasury, heads of the national drug control program agencies and the governor of each applicable state may designate any specified area of the united states as high intensity drug trafficking area. that's explicit. that's not somebody wandering around with undefined authority. he's got a specific buth and so on. here's the great irony. we had one czar who was in the cabinet, approved with the advice and consent of the senate with a specific budget. and our current director of office and national drug control policy, a good man and would have been clearly cleared, but this administration chose to take the one czar that was approved with the advice and consent of the senate and take him out of the cabinet and now he's not certified either. so now even the one czar who has descriptions, who was following the pattern under this administration, has been changed. and the danger here is we do not know how the interrelationships between the people cleared by the united states senate are working with noncleared people. we run into background check problems like mr. jones, but we run into other huge questions and that is, so much power cente

united states came very close to collapsing, began with the failure of lehman brothers, triggered the biggest government financial intervention in our history and that in fact may be what saved us. treasuryd the other actions taken by the government were absolutely necessary to keep the economy from going over a cliff. and geithner warns the recovery ahead will be slow and painful. he expects continuesed high levels of unemployment and weak growth. this coming monday president obama will be on wall street giving what the white house calls a major speech in new york city on the financial crisis. he'll address what's been done so far and talk about what he needs to do going forward. in the year since lehman brothers collapsed, the u.s. economy has taken quite a beating. the weeks and months that followed that event saw weaknesses in the financial system. the bailout and the government takeover of the world's largest insurer, aig, a much larger than usual number of bank failures. the government taking a huge stake in banks like bank of america. the government sinking massive amounts of money into automakers and that $780 billion stimulus package that was rammed through the congress during t

united states could allow cuba to buy any products containing more than 10% of u.s. components or technology anywhere in the world regardless of its trademark or country of origin. the u.s. treasuryd abstain from persecuting and confiscating third country transfers weather in u.s. dollars or any other currency to cuban nationals or entities. washington could lift the ban preventing a third country from entering any u.s. port until 180 days have elapsed after putting it in any cuban port. the persecution unleased by the u.s. treasury department against financial institution companies which trade or carry out operations with cuba could be suspended. president obama could allow american citizens by means of license to travel to cuba. the only country in the world they are not allowed to visit. the report submitted to this assembly by the u.s. secretary general contains abundant examples in the course of 2009. numerous actions have been taken to confiscate and had their transactions carried out by cuba or by third countries with cuba. as has been reported by the u.s. treasury department itself, since january of this year, almost half of the funds collected by its office of foreign as

united states government will be paying out $799 billion a year in interest. we don't get anything for that. it goes out to people all over the world who bought our treasury notes. we send out this interest. send it to some americans who buy it, and they get this interest. and it's money we don't have to do things with we want to do for our constituents. and, in fact, in essence, as a moral matter, we are reaching into the future, and we're taking money from the future and spending it today to meet our own gratification, our desires today, without doing what our states and cities and counties are doing: figuring out how to get by with less in tough times and looking forward to the day that they'll be able to see growth again and be able to not have to be on such a spare budget. but that's life. we're not able to pass a law to reverse life and the challenges and difficulties and uncertainties that we face every year in our personal lives and in our national lives, in our economic lives. if you took -- so that's the lower number. that's assuming that things are going pretty well. but if you look at the interest rates that the blue chip forecast of economist