This morning, by coincidence, there are parallel hearings on Capitol Hill dealing with the nature of our banking system and attempts to stabilize it.  In the Cannon House Office Building, starting at 9:30am, the Joint Economic Committee will hear from Thomas Hoenig, Joseph Stiglitz, and me, on whether Big Finance is too big to save (see yesterday’s preview for details).

At 10am over on the Senate side (Dirksen Senate Office Building), Secretary Geithner will appear before the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel.  We preview that event this morning on The Hearing, with a discussion of the context, the latest numbers, and our forecast of the ideas that will be expressed; it’s a viewer’s guide – but one that you can talk to by sending in comments (and, most important, your questions for the Secretary).

My questions for Secretary Geithner remain about the same as they were on February 7th.  As reflected in those questions, I continue to worry that the Administration’s “wait-and-see” strategy is just increasing the ultimate costs – in terms of financial losses and unemployment.  No government ever likes to tackle a severe banking crisis head on (mostly because that would greatly upset the financial elite), but it’s almost always the right thing to do.

I remain unconvinced by the Treasury’s line that “there is no alternative” to their approach.  Or perhaps they are shifting towards the line that: “based on information that only the government has (and can have), it is our assessment that all other approaches would be more damaging.”

If that is now their position, we have built a financial system that is immune to democracy – today’s complexity and lack of transparency mean that it is easier than even to become too big to fail.  The major banks now know this and will behave accordingly.