Own goal

When US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was in New Delhi recently, he made no secret of the fact that he was proud of his government’s quick response to the financial crisis — as well as his distrust of financial markets. At a CII-organised event in a five-star hotel, when Geithner was taking questions from the floor, he was asked one by the India head of the giant insurer AIG — who called Geithner his company’s “owner”. Of course, the US government had bailed out AIG, in return for equity, in the emergency atmosphere following the fall of Lehman. Geithner responded, quick as a flash, “reluctant owner, I assure you,” and went on to say that he expected it would be very temporary indeed.