Department+of+Treasury



**Department Leader**

Secretary Timothy F. Geithner


 * Responsibilities**


 * Managing federal finances
 * Collecting taxes, duties, and monies paid to and due to the U.S. and paying all bills of the U.S.
 * Producing postage stamps, currency, and coinage
 * Managing government accounts and the U.S. public debt
 * Supervising national banks and thrift institutions
 * Advising on domestic and international financial, monetary, economic, trade, and tax policy
 * Enforcing federal finance and tax laws
 * Investigating and prosecuting tax evaders, counterfeiters, forgers, smugglers, illicit spirit distillers, and gun law violators

**Bureaus:**

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau - is responsible for enforcing and administering laws covering the production, use, and distribution of alcohol and tobacco products. TTB also collects excise taxes for firearms and ammunition.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing - designs and manufactures U.S. currency, securities, and other official certificates and awards. They are in charge of producing secure documents and also for printing Federal Reserve notes. In addition the design and manufacture U.S currency. They use a highly advanced system that prevents the ability for any documents produced to be counterfeited.

The Bureau of Public Debt - Borrows the money needed to operate the Federal Government. It administers the public debt by issuing and servicing U.S. Treasury marketable, savings and special securities.


 * United States Debt Articles (Selected by Steve Sellers)**

__Article 1: New York Times__ Debt held by the public is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to rise from 41% of GDP in 2008 to 51% in 2009 and to peak around 54% in 2011 before declining again in the following years. Already within the first half of this fiscal year, the federal deficit is running at $956.8 billion or nearly 1/7 of GDP. By the end of 2009, the administration is expected to borrow about $2 trillion. One worry is the dwindling number of eager lenders to buy all that American debt. Since most of the world is in a recession, other nations have had rising borrowing needs as well. As nations across the world see their surpluses turn to deficits, the U.S. will face greater competition in global markets for its borrowing needs. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/business/economy/04debt.html?_r=1

__Article 2: Bureau of Public Debt__ The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The main goals of this act are to jumpstart our economy, create and save millions of jobs, and tackle long neglected challenges to help our nation thrive in the 21st century. This act is the biggest response to an economy crisis since the Great Depression. It also includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, increase our nation's energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve health care that is more affordable, and provide tax relief. []

__Article 3 : Wall Street Journal__ The Obama administration rejected China's concerns that its vast holdings of US assests may be unsafe. "We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S., so of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at his annual news conference. "Frankly speaking, I do have some worries." Chinese leaders have felt bruised by some badly performing U.S. investments they thought were safe, including holdings in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mr. Wen's public airing about his concerns with the U.S. economy have highlighted the role China plays as the largest holder of U.S. Treasury debt. In response to Mr. Wen's comments, White House officials say that President Obama plans to make the U.S. more fiscally cautious once the crisis passes. "There's no safer investment in the world than in the United States," said presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs. []

__Recommendation to Obama__ Mr. Obama, I believe that we should take a closer look at how we spend our money. Our national debt is already over $10 trillion and is steadily increasing. With recent government funded bailouts, our cash reserves are quickly depleting. We need to stop mindlessly spending money and start saving for once. I realize that spending a few dollars here and there won't hurt, but dropping millions of dollars to prevent a few automakers from going out is business is ridiculous. Lets revise our budget to spend only when necessary and cut down in areas where spending is not needed.


 * United States Economic Recession Articles (Selected by Greg Yankovoy)**

__Article 1 : Reuters__ Citigroup, in its global equity strategy note titled "Battling The Bear," said it now sees global real gross domestic product growth at 0.5 percent for 2009, down from the "The fundamental outlook for 2009 looks dire," Citigroup global equity strategists warned, but added that global equities looked cheap in absolute terms and very cheap "We think that neither will win out over the year, but it will be a volatile ride." The worsening global recession has already driven MSCI's all-country world stock index corporate earnings down by 13 percent from its 2007-end high, the strategists said and added that they do not expect this profits cycle to bottom until 2010. The MSCI all-country world index, which lost more than 43 percent in 2008, was down 1.2 percent by 1054 GMT Thursday. []

__Article 2 : Seeking Alpha__ Monday, the New York Fed released its latest "Probability of U.S. Recession Predicted by Treasury Spread," with data through January 2009 and its recession probability forecast through 2010 (see chart above, click to enlarge). The NY Fed's model uses the difference between 10-year and 3-month Treasury rates to calculate the probability of a recession in the United States twelve months ahead (see chart below of the Treasury spread).The Fed's data show that the recession probability peaked during the October 2007 to April 2008 period at around 35-40%, and has been declining since then to less than 10% for December 2008 and January 2009. Looking forward through 2009, the Fed's model shows a recession probability of only about 1% on average through the next 12 months, and below 1% by the end of the year (.82% by January 2010). The Treasury spread has been above 2% for the last 11 months, a pattern consistent with the economic recoveries after the 1990-1991 and 2001 recessions. []

__Article 3 : Forbes__ With the industrial world already in outright recession and the emerging world navigating toward a hard landing (growth well below potential), I expect global growth to be flat (around -0.5%) in 2009. This will be the worst global recession in decades as the fallout of the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression took a toll first on the U.S. and then--via a variety of channels--on the rest of the global economy. The United States economy is only halfway through a recession that started in December 2007 and will be the longest and most severe in the post-war period. U.S. gross domestic product will continue to contract throughout all of 2009 for a cumulative output loss of 5%. []

__Recommendation to Obama__ Mr. Obama, as you and many Americans know, our country is in an economic crisis. Many Americans have lost their job and many businesses are going our of business. To top it off, our country is spiraling further into debt than it ever was. Therefore I recommend immediate changes. We need to give businesses and retailers incentives to open new stores and create more jobs. We could possibly give some businesses a tax cut for every new store it opens. This would help create many jobs while at the same time stimulate the economy with more places to shop. We need to take action fast because if we allow the economy to continue the way it is going, we may have another Great Depression on our hands.


 * History of the Department of Treasury**

Under the Articles of Confederation, the limited U.S. financial administration was taken care of by the superintendent of finance who was replaced in 1784 by a treasury board. After the new American government was created in 1789 by the US Constitution, the country needed a system to collect taxes, take custody of federal funds, and the keeping of accounts. To solve these problems, the United States Treasury Department was established in 1789. It was charged with advising the president on fiscal policies and managing the US budget. The head of the Treasury Department was the Secretary of the Treasury. This position became the second ranking cabinet member. The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton who was sworn into office on September 11, 1789. []

**Constituents**

In a nutshell, the Department of Treasury manages Federal finances once the President, Congress and the Office of Management and Budget set fiscal policy. Constituents include people who buy auctioned treasury bills, bonds, and notes. In addition, people who have mortgages on their home are affected by the Department of Treasury. Mortgage rates change and are influenced by Treasury Bonds. The value of the dollar is also affected, which as a result impacts inflation and the cost of imports.