U.S. Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, visited Oregon Wednesday to talk about the economy.
Geithner visited Oregon Iron Works where workers were welding part of the temporary Sellwood bridge.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
He told the Portland City Club that the economy is getting stronger, but there's more work to do.
On his swing through the Metro area, Geithner visited Intel, Nike and Oregon Iron Works.
He also gave a speech to the Portland City Club. He said the country faces a "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year, with the simultaneous expiration of tax cuts and large reductions in government spending.
"Now we face some very tough challenges as a country. But they are manageable challenges for the U.S. And I'd prefer our challenges to those of any economy anywhere in the world," Geithner says.
After his speech, Geithner was interviewed by Dave Miller of OPB's Think Out Loud. Miller asked Geithner how he reacts to accusations from both sides of the political spectrum: people in the Tea Party movement saying the financial crisis was crony capitalism at its worst, and those in the Occupy movement charging that the banks were bailed out while regular Americans were sold out.
"Yes, it's unfair. And yes it feels unjust. The tragic reality of managing the financial crisis successfully is, the just and the moral and the pragmatic and the necessary thing to do, to protect the innocence from even greater damage, is to come in and make sure you rescue the economy from a failing financial system, and that requires stabilizing the system. There's no alternatives to it," Geithner says.
Geithner also told the audience he changed his scrawling signature when he became the U.S. Treasury Secretary. He wanted something more suitable and legible to put on the dollar bill.
OPB's Think Out Loud Thursday will feature reaction to Geithner's speech. Post your thoughts at www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/
