James Greiff , Columnist

Geithner's Dubious Accounting

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's claim that the U.S. government has turned a profit on its bailout of the banking system is based on dubious accounting.

May 27, 2014 at 12:33 PM UTC

By James Greiff

James Greiff is an editor for Bloomberg Opinion. He was Wall Street news team leader at Bloomberg News and senior editor for Bloomberg Markets magazine. He previously reported on banking for the St. Petersburg Times and the Charlotte Observer.

I've done the math, and it adds up. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images — I've done the math, and it adds up. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Timothy Geithner claims in his new book, "Stress Test," a memoir of his years as U.S. Treasury Secretary during the financial crisis, that the federal government has turned a profit on its bailout of the banking system.

It's an assertion offered as one of the many reasons the rescue was a good idea. Let's not debate whether the bailout was or wasn't necessary: Get real -- it was. But Geithner's assertion about the bailout's cost, or rather lack thereof, demands scrutiny.