Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down, Even if Dallas Fed Survey Does

Dallas Fed prez Richard Fisher

This morning, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — those bloodsuckers! — released the latest Texas
Manufacturing Outlook Survey. In a word: Oy. In two: “Plunged sharply.” Or, as the Associated Press puts it: “Texas manufacturers are painting a bleak picture of current and future
factory activity in the nation’s No. 2 state for production.” But perhaps we’d do well to heed the advice of Dallas Fed head Richard Fisher, whose name appears in this morning’s USA Today profile of New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner, who, moments ago, officially became President-elect Barack Obama’s pick as Treasury secretary. –Robert Wilonsky

In April, Geithner was grilled by the Senate
Banking Committee about the Bear Stearns rescue. Geithner defended the
decision as necessary to protect the stability of the financial system,
while admitting it was a “very damaging blow” to the credibility of the
financial system. As the brickbats flew, Dallas Fed President
Richard Fisher sent Geithner an e-mail reading: “Illigitimum non
carborundum,” Latin for “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”