Obama & Geithner — A question of the angles of perception

The Administration's popularity with the electorate is well established; however, Obama's success among the experts viewing his performance as the elected leader of the largest economy in the world is quite a different story.

“U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the economy,” according to the results of the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

The Wall Street Journal’s survey of economists gives the Obama and Geithner team failing grades.

“The economists' assessment stands in stark contrast with Mr. Obama's popularity with the public,” the Journal writes.

While Obama enjoys 60+% popular approval ratings in several national polls, the WSJ survey of 49 economists shows a majority is dissatisfied with his administration’s economic policies.

“On average, [the economists] gave the president a grade of 59 out of 100, and although there was a broad range of marks, 42% of respondents rated Mr. Obama below 60. Mr. Geithner received an average grade of 51. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke scored better, with an average 71.

The economists also disagreed with the administration about when a recovery would begin — later than the Obama team says publicly.

Those surveyed generally believed that the downturn might end in October, pushed out from their August end suggested last month. And they see the U.S. GDP continuing downward through the second quarter, with slow growth returning in the third quarter of this year.

As to the $787 billion economic-stimulus package, 43% of the economists polled said the U.S. will need another stimulus package of $500+/- billion. “Others were skeptical of the need for stimulus at all.”

The economists' “main criticism of the Obama team centered on delays in enacting key parts of plans to rescue banks.”

"They overpromised and under delivered," the Journal quotes Stephen Stanley of RBS Greenwich Capital. "Secretary Geithner scheduled a big speech and came out with just a vague blueprint. The uncertainty is hanging over everyone's head." See edit30 post.

Mr. Geithner’s Feb. 10, speech announced the administration's plans but offered few details — a shortcoming that has been criticized daily in the financial media, and cited as a black cloud of uncertainty that has created anxiety on traders and downward pressure on stock indexes.

While Geither has since appeared before Congress and offered some specifics, he admits that the plan still is weeks away.