GEITHNER Open to Chinese Dollar-Replacement Plan?

Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is “open” to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China’s central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar, but which Geithner described as more modest and “evolutionary.”

Well, that’s a relief. But Geithner needs to learn to be more careful in his statements:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sent the dollar tumbling with comments about China’s ideas for overhauling the global monetary system, only to drive it back up by affirming that it should remain the world’s reserve currency.

The affirmation came only in response to Roger Altman’s last-minute save in the form of a request for “clarification.” This kind of thing just adds to the sense of a team that’s not ready for prime time.

Also: Geithner Misses Lifeline, Sinks Dollar.

And, as the image below from Memeorandum earlier today demonstrates, Geithner also deepsixed some of the JournoList crowd who had launched a premature defense on the China dollar-replacement issue. Heckuva job, Timmy!

UPDATE: “No he can’t.”