Recognize this man? He's managing $700 billion of your money

He's an American kid from Stow, Ohio, son of immigrants from India, and he started out in life to be an engineer.

Now the 35-year-old Neel Kashkari, assistant secretary of Treasury for international economics and development, has been named to oversee the Bush administration's $700-billion effort to rescue the U.S. financial services sector and oh yeah the rest of the global economy. His official title: Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability. His nickname: bailout czar.

Kashkari, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker in San Francisco, is by his own description a "free-market Republican." Before his career in finance, Kashkari developed technology for NASA space missions while at TRW in Redondo Beach. Seen here juggling coat jacket, soda can and memo pad as he shuttles to the Dirksen Senate Office Building to win congressional support for the rescue plan, Kashkari was one of the original architects of the bailout plan.

Now he has to make it work. As he told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute during a recent appearance:

There's no one tool that's going to solve all of our problems. ... We need to enable the necessary correction to move forward as quickly as possible. We're having a necessary correction, and we don't want to do anything to slow it down. We need to get through it.

Just six years from getting his MBA at the Wharton School of Economics, Kashkari is by all accounts a fast learner.

"He's a thoughtful leader," said Steve O'Connor, a vice president at the Mortgage Bankers Assn. In an interview with politico.com, O'Connor added: "I'll say this: when we went to meet with him, we needed to be prepared."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: Lauren Victoria Burke / Associated Press

Comments

[michael odishoo]

Once again I am blown away at how little airtime and prominence this story is getting. He was one of the architects of the ORIGINAL bailout plan? You mean the one with no oversight? the one that bailed out executives that treated the markets like their own personal Caeser's Palace? This guy is supposed to be impartial even though he originated from a now State sponsored bank? Unbelievable. I hope that when Obama gets into office he appoints an academic economist to the Treasury Dept. Perhaps people will realize now what happens when politicians have "experience" running major corporations.

[Lance Cassagnol]

Head of acquisitions a trader for a small scratch and dent whole loan investment company. We are a small shop governed by myself and the outside market. We hold our diligence principles close to our vest when evaluating loan product. You need to have confidence in your core approach doing in order to adapt. When one person is allowed to review a multitude of product types he develops a feeling for the out come of any portfolio. The key to the bailout is knowing the mortgage portfolio at all levels and diversifying strategy along product type in order to balance recoveries today with profits and losses tomorrow. They are not buying into chaos here. We all make money at this game if it is played correctly. I've seen small and large firms struggle and weather this storm for the past two and a half years and I have seen mega giants explode over night. The mistakes have been made and are now completely transparent that is the biggest gift wallstreet can give us. The job is easier than it seems you just have to sweep up a mess but create piles in different areas of the room that you can manage. In one big pile it is still a mess.

[Laisseraller]

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[Graham]

At least he's not a good ole boy. I'm actually happy to see someone young and with solid experience and education in this role. He's a welcomed changed.
Unfortunately, he won't have any luck if this: http://www.greenfaucet.com/blogs/hanlons-pub keeps happening-- Every time Bush makes a speech the stock market goes down. Pretty interesting article.
Kashkari will have to make sure someone puts a muzzle on Bush while he tries to fix this mess!