On April 1, Tim Geithner, speaking from the big G20 love fest, told Katie Couric that he would certainly consider replacing the CEOs of any bailed-out entity that the administration felt wasn't performing up to snuff. I don't think there's anybody out there who doesn't think that's a good idea. You take the money. You do the job. If you don't, so long Charley, right? Right.
This will undoubtedly leave a huge CEO gap in a number of large institutions. In many cases, the government will probably try to fill the void with an executive who has been on the corporate scene before, as they did at General Motors. There's certainly a rationale for that. The anointed one knows the company in question. He has some experience in the trenches. At the same time, isn't that individual likely to be as much part of the problem as the solution? The Who said it: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Is that what we're really after?
I submit that there are many qualified individuals from outside each of these banks, car companies, insurance behemoths and other corporate states that are now at least partially owned by We, the People. I believe I am one of them.
Following are my qualifications to be a New Bailout CEO:
Of course, the compensation would have to make sense. I know the limits, which have been well-publicized. But what's the upside?