'Financial Times': Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill Signals Hands-Off Stance Towards World Markets
DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: There's a meeting of the group of seven industrial nations this weekend. And it will be the first for the new treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Paul O'Neill sat down with the "Financial Times" before heading off to that meeting. And Richard Lambert has more now from the "FT's" London newsroom about -- I guess about the Bush administration's approach to world economies. Good morning, Richard.</s>RICHARD LAMBERT, EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Good morning. Yes, it's a refreshingly different approach. It's -- we carried the interview in our newspaper this morning. And Mr. O'Neill comes across as a kind of pragmatic conservative who has pretty dubious, skeptical views about official intervention in market crises, and is pretty keen to let the markets do their stuff, and for people in the capitalist systems take risks. And if they lose, then they should pay up. It's a nice and -- as I say -- a refreshing approach.</s>MARCHINI: Is he talking about financial crises, currency crises, or both?</s>LAMBERT: He's talking about both. He's saying that -- he's saying that it's wrong to think that within the capitalist systems, crises of any kind -- financial, currency, whatever -- are inevitable. Crises happen, he says, when markets aren't allowed to operate or when they operate inefficiency. And one can certainly, you know, point to what happen in Asia three years ago to underwrite that viewpoint. And he says: Let's concentrate on making the markets work properly. Of course, we need an IMF. But let -- he likens it to a fire engine. And he says, you know, the fire engines are best when they're in the station. We don't want the fire engines racing around the high streets too much. Let's hope that fire-engine drivers learn to play chess very well, because we don't want them out on the streets.</s>MARCHINI: How...</s>LAMBERT: He also a bit -- he also comes across as being slightly uncertain about the value of such meetings as he's going to this weekend: the finance ministers in Italy, as you mentioned. He's going to listen, he says, and find out if these meetings bring any value to the sum of human happiness.</s>MARCHINI: How do you think the views he expressed to your newspaper are likely to sit with other members of the group of seven?</s>LAMBERT: I think people will be interested. And, actually, I think they'll find it quite attractive. The contrast, obviously, is with Larry Summers, his predecessor, who was -- was/is a great and dynamic figure -- but liked to go around to such meetings and tell people -- especially the -- telling the Japanese how they should run their country. It will be quite nice to have some bloke coming over and saying: Well, I'm here to listen. And my underlying philosophy is that markets work usually. And they work best when they're allowed to work efficiently. And that's what I'm here to do. That -- I think people will find that quite attractive.</s>MARCHINI: All right, Richard Lambert of the "FT." Thank you.