Need-To-Know

There's a lot of chatter about the peculiarly slow pace of staffing senior positions at Treasury. I asked a good source on Washington and economic policy about this, and how much of it is due to personal divestiture requirements or lobbying-related restrictions. His paraphrased reply was that with all the extraordinary measures being taken, there are present and maybe future advantages in having as few people as possible right now at the highest levels. He also said it creates a bit of extra sympathy and leeway for Geithner, which was important with the issue of AIG bonuses: i.e., "he's there all alone and is swamped just trying to hold things together." For what it's worth...