Timothy Geithner

On August 2, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote an op-ed in the New York Times with the title, “Welcome to the Recovery.” Despite the brash headline, Geithner was cautiously optimistic about the direction of the economy.

“Recoveries that follow financial crises are typically a hard climb,” he wrote. “That is reality. The process of repair means economic growth will come slower than we would like. But despite these challenges, there is good news to report.”

The good news, the secretary said, includes “booming” exports, private job growth (“not as fast as we would like”), a stabilized banking system, and a business sector that has “repaired its balance sheets” and is in “a strong financial position to reinvest and grow.”

Geithner conceded that such positive indicators were “cold comfort to those Americans still looking for work and to those industries, like construction, hit hardest by the crisis.” But he defended the Obama administration’s actions to combat the recession: the $787 billion stimulus package; the Trouble Asset Relief Program, or “bank bailout,” which was set in motion by the Bush administration; and the so-called “auto bailout” of Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford.

Though there is still a tough row to hoe, Geithner said, “we are coming back.”

Some restaurant industry players, however, are far less optimistic than the Treasury Secretary.Read more