Here Is My Economic Dream Team

I have my found my economic Dream Team... on the set of CNBC's Squawk Box (Hint: it's not Rick Santelli and Mark Haines).

It's Elizabeth Warren and Eliot Spitzer. Or, if you prefer, Eliot Spitzer and Elizabeth Warren. I can't decide who gets top billing.

Watch my interviews with them from Thursday and see why I wish they were running things.

Here is Warren:

And here is Spitzer:

For more video from my guest hosting stint, click here.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[racetoinfinity]

Spitzer was great! I second your nominations for dream team. I always suspected that Spitzer was "gotten" any way they could get him - now I am as sure as I can be without hard evidence that it was a plot to get him out of the way.

The male host getting hysterical about government "running things" is the problem that has screwed us for the last 30 years (since St. Ronnie) - the absurd, and useful to the plutocrats, idea that there is a "free market" that will trickle down its blessings - and that regulations are onerous - human greed, short-sightedness, narcissism, fear, and power-lust need regulation within the great god "capitalism" - this was proved by Roosevelt's reforms. Now we need to get rid of the Fed. Spitzer was almost there. I'm off to find his post at "Slate" about how the Fed is run by the CEOs of the big banks.

[TrueSense]

Opines:
I hope you are wrong, but you might be right ! Is Obama somehow, purposely or otherwise, the Pie Piper. Giving us some of what we want and needed while turning the country over to the new super Fed.

Opines wrote at Posted 11:24 PM on 05/09/2009:
The most charitable explanation of President Obama's turning over the handling of the economic crisis to those whose greed and arrogance created the breakdown is that he is so unschooled in the field of economics that he is at the mercy of the Wall Street eminences.

Otherwise one would have to conclude that he has decided to go the trickle-down crowd one better. While his predecessor only reduced their taxes, Obama has given Wall Street the keys to the U.S. Treasury.

When future economic historians study the first great depression of the 21st century, they will use words like 'clueless' and 'feckless' in describing this giveaway by the Constitutional Scholar President.

[spooz]

I agree with you that Warren and Spitzer are two who are demanding transparency in the financial crisis. I don't buy the criticism that Elizabeth Warren is overstepping her bounds. I'm happy to finally see somebody willing to speak honestly about the financial crisis. And I don't believe Spitzer would ever have been prosecuted if he hadn't crossed the wrong people in his role of Wall Street watchdog. Thank you for allowing these views to be heard by disenfranchised taxpayers. Only when we start seeing members of Congress saying these things will I feel they are listening to voters instead of lobbyists.
I am providing a link to The Federal Reserve Transparency Act, H.R. 1207, which seems to be a step in the right direction in demanding that the workings of the fed be transparent instead of shrouded in secrecy. The bill was introduced by Ron Paul, and has bipartisan support with 143 cosponsors. Check the link to see if your representative is one of the co-sponsors, and encourage them to get it out of committee and up for vote. This isn't about party politics. Its about transparency.
http://www.ronpaul.com/on-the-issues/audit-the-federal-reserve-hr-1207/

[delta7777]

.
just watched the video clip of Geithner interviewed by Charlie Rose, as referenced by Spitzer pointing to his Slate,com article ( http://www.slate.com/id/2217811/ ),,,boy does Geithner come off as a slickster!.
As Arianna points out, Summers was an architect of the repeal of Glass-Steagall, and as Spitzer points out:
"So who selected Geithner back in 2003? Well, the Fed board created a select committee to pick the CEO. This committee included none other than Hank Greenberg, then the chairman of AIG; John Whitehead, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs; Walter Shipley, a former chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank, now JPMorgan Chase; and Pete Peterson, a former chairman of Lehman Bros. It was not a group of typical depositors worried about the security of their savings accounts but rather one whose interest was in preserving a capital structure and way of doing business.."

Is it yet time for Obama to radically reassess and change his appointed economic staff and realign the thrust of the direction that they are leading our economy? They are proving themselves entirely pro Wall Street at the sole expense of Main Street.
.

[opines]

The most charitable explanation of President Obama's turning over the handling of the economic crisis to those whose greed and arrogance created the breakdown is that he is so unschooled in the field of economics that he is at the mercy of the Wall Street eminences.

Otherwise one would have to conclude that he has decided to go the trickle-down crowd one better. While his predecessor only reduced their taxes, Obama has given Wall Street the keys to the U.S. Treasury.

When future economic historians study the first great depression of the 21st century, they will use words like 'clueless' and 'feckless' in describing this giveaway by the Constitutional Scholar President.

[NoahNox]

Yes indeed Arianna. We lost a great public servant when Spitzer resigned. He is brilliant indeed and so are you for recognizing that.

[delta7777]

.
Foremost in what comes across from these interviews is Arianna's absolute clear and uncluttered grasp of issues, the breadth and depth of her knowledge regarding these issues, and her uncanny ability to formulate and clearly ask simple, honest, precise questions that hone in on issues with laser coherence and accuracy.
Such qualities of brevity and clarity are a wonder!--
Arianna is a sorely needed true voice of the people--and in reality a National Treasure .
.

[hu.man]

Spitzer hit the nail on the head when he predicted that cycles of boom and bust will not end with this financial debacle. I didn't see the entire program on TV but that was the end of the second clip so I am not sure if he elaborated on why we seem to be incapable of learning from lessons of past indiscretions.

The core issue, it seems to me, is that our country is a debt-based consumer society. Consumerism reigns supreme and as long as we are encouraged to create economic growth through expanded consumer spending, we are going to be running into these mishaps with the financial system. Excesses do occur because of the consumers' insatiable appetite for credit.

Veblen correctly diagnosed this problem in his Theory of Leisure Class work as being "conspicuous consumption". The people who drove this economy into the ground by borrowing beyond their means are undoubtedly driven by lack-motivated consumption.

Even though the banking system acted as an enabler to this malady, the core of the problem lies in the demand. Similarly, we can blame Mexico for the American drug problem, but as long as there is a demand, the supply becomes somehow available. That is why the war on drugs is such a failure and so will any type of reform that is enacted on the banking system because it does not address the issue of demand.

[Moldes733]

And no Nassim Nicholas Taleb?? He not only understands the markets than these two, but also predicted the downfall of the financial system.

[PhilipTaylor]

Arianna should be a steady Host on CNBC - Wake them UP!

Why Mr. President DO we NOT REPAIR THE ENTIRE SHIP that is STILL SINKING?

We now have "FAILED Wall Street/FED Insiders" running the Obama Treasury Programs!

We should have CLEAR THINKING Brilliant Outsiders like Warren, Stiglitz, Spitzer, and Krugman developing the New Systems that build a better REAL WORLD Future for ALL AMERICANS!

[PhilipTaylor]

YES!

We now have "FAILED Wall Street/FED Insiders" running the Obama Treasury Programs!

We should have CLEAR THINKING Brilliant Outsiders like Warren and Spitzer developing the New Systems that build a better REAL WORLD Future for ALL AMERICANS!

The New Systems:

1. Recognize the Old Wall Street is GONE FOREVER!
2. Fight the Narrow Minded Ignorance of Wall Street
3. Prevent Wall Street Owning Congress and writing our LAWS
4. A Gov. Agency accepts all Campaign Funds and Blindly Distributes them to Congress - "delinking"
4. Removes the Culture that Employee Stealing of Corporate Profits and pocketing them is "GOOD"
5. Removes the philosophy that any "TRICKS&TRAPS" that work by hurting the Small Investor is OK
6. Removes the idea that Taxpayers are Insurance/Welfare Providers to Wall Street when they go BAD
7. Our Criminal Justice System is ALIVE/WELL Investigating and Prosecuting White Collar Crime
8. Regulations and Regulators are GOOD and POWERFUL - Yes Government Plays a ROLE
9. Restructure the FED to Serve equally Main Street and Wall Street

[roger37]

Elizabeth Warren provides what Summers and Geithner do not. Not only does she understand the problem, she can communicate so people can understand her. I come away from listening to interviews with her feeling that at least somebody, fahchrissake, in government know what's happening and is looking out for the taxpayer.

I do not feel that way when I hear and see Geithner. And I haven't mentioned the obvious conflicts of interest with Geithner/Summers an Goldman Sachs.

[alabaman]

Spitzer was the pit bull Wall st hated and feared. Too bad his personal demons overcame him.

[booboo111]

Wrong. In practically no other country does someone lose his professional position over a personal indiscression. In fact they thought it was a joke when Clinton was impeached.

[openhand]

Spitzer is articulate, aggressive, intelligent, experienced and has nothing left to lose. He is perfect, might we be so fortunate?

[verycold]

I am a conservative and I agree with Arianna regarding these two financial experts. After months of reading everything I can get my hands on about how this financial crisis erupted, I now can completely follow both guests and the questions Arianna has I too have the same. The group currently running the show for Obama, have never, ever made this much sense. I feel that Geithner and Summer say the same things over and over and frankly not very convincingly.

I do not trust the Federal Reserve and apparently Spitzer doesn't as well. Elizabeth is so different from the rest because she has enthusiasm for the issue, high expectations that we can and should be doing so much more, and that she will willing to divulge how she has arrived at some of her conclusions.

The reasons the skeptics have not bought on to the idea that we are in fact seeing some "green shoots" is because we do not trust the messenger, meaning the financial group running the show. Those that came up with the stress test were the very ones that have been minding the store all this time. It fails the logic test. Arianna says it fails the smell test which I agree.