Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin during his Senate confirmation hearing. Image via screengrab.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's strange announcement late Sunday that there was no reason to worry about bank liquidity is being seen as responsible for extending market loses Monday morning as the DOW plunged more than 400 points less than an hour after opening.
Secretary Mnuchin is being called an "idiot" and "clueless" by award-winning winning economist Paul Krugman.
Dartmouth Economics professor Danny Blanchflower, who is a Bloomberg TV contributing editor, called for Mnuchin to "resign," saying posting the statement on banks was the "dumbest action" he's ever seen by a Treasury Secretary. He also called Mnuchin a "moron."
Mnuchin's statement on banks caused many to worry about banks, despite there having been no concerns about banks. In short, he created and introduced another reason to worry for markets that are on track to deliver the worst December performance since the Great Depression. Last week alone was the worst week for the DOW in 10 years.
Mnuchin posted his statement from his vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
As of this writing the DOW is down 375 points, and very volatile.
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