Michael Hirsh

The bank business crashed and burned. Families like the Welters are trying to win back America's trust.

Watching the protests in Thailand over the weekend brought back some distant memories for me—of covering the pro-democracy protests in that country nearly 17 years ago, in May of 1992.

The old system refuses to change. Is Obama getting the message?

It's the big question hanging over America's beleaguered economy: Whence is the next great wave of growth going to emerge? After the dotcom bubble burst at the end of the '90s, we moved immediately to the great Wall Street bubble of the '00s.

A kinder, gentler Carol Browner is backing Obama's green agenda.

Geithner's vision was born on the Sage of Omaha's desk.

If you parse all the testimony and the punditry we've heard in recent weeks, a common theme emerges: There is a deep philosophical divide between those who want to fix the financial house we have, and those who think we should knock down the old house and build a brand-new one—a new Wall Street, in other words.

President Obama, announcing another dip into the federal coffers today to save the auto industry, blamed a "failure of leadership"—perhaps a potshot at the soon-to-be departed GM chairman, Rick Wagoner.

 It's amazing Tim Geithner has time to read anything at all beyond drafts of his latest plan to save the financial system. But in an interview last week with my colleague Jeff Bartholet and me, the Treasury secretary revealed that he was deep into "Lords of Finance," Liaquat Ahamed's brilliant history of the hapless central bankers of the Depression era who "broke the world," mainly by adhering blindly to the gold standard (read my full report on the interview here).

 It ain't over yet, folks—both the banking crisis itself and the debate over what should be done about it. Barack Obama and the nation's major bankers made nice at a White House meeting on Friday, with everyone agreeing that 'we're all in this together,'' as Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs put it.

For weeks he's looked like a deer in the headlights, flubbing speeches and rattling markets. But the Treasury chief retains the support of his boss—and he's starting to hit his stride.

Geithner may have it right after all.

Is anybody really in charge of this crisis? Barack Obama's off in California doing the "Tonight Show"-- "These financial industries are holding us hostage," the world's most powerful man complained to Jay Leno Thursday night -- and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is under constant fire for his handling of AIG and just about everything else.

The firm's problems may extend to its 'healthy' insurance side.

We wanted FDR. But halfway through his first 100 days, it's clear the 44th president's job is actually harder.

Who's designing Geithner's rescue plan? Goldman guys, of course.

Can the president's two top financial regulators repent their past sins?

He's become a champion of massive government intervention in the economy, and he's even learning how to play nice.

The veteran diplomat convenes a 'trilateral meeting' between Pakistan, Afghanistan and America.

Secretary of State was the consolation prize, but Hillary Clinton was still delighted to get it. Her problem now is that the Obama administration is populated with big players—and some big egos—who are stealing away her turf bit by bit.

The survivors who appeared before Congress are 'too big to fail.' But guess what: They're failing.

We're about to plunk down nearly $1 trillion on a bet that he was. But no one's sure.

Obama needs to reassert command of the agenda in Washington.

What the GOP's hostility to Obama's stimulus plan portends.

With a call for 'relentless' diplomacy, Hillary further obliterates W's legacy.

The new president's got big plans for the Mideast, starting with Dennis Ross.

A looming battle over re-regulation

Why Obama's new Fed pick may be the most important member of his economic team.

How the global economic crisis could turn things around in the Mideast

What the Blagojevich scandal might tell us about Obama's ethics.