Alright, there's been a lot of discussion here and in the political arena in general about the merits of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's plans on handling the economy.
But as we learned with the AIG Bonus scandal, sometimes gestures and actions with minuscule financial impact can matter as much as the macro-level policies.
So with all that in mind, it was refreshing to see Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner leading by example.
CNN ran a relatively short piece about Geithner's traveling habits:
(CNN) — As the government tries to curb corporate excess of companies receiving federal bailout money, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appears to be leading by example.
The man who was grilled by Congress last week over the AIG bonuses took the Delta shuttle from New York to Washington on Saturday, riding in the coach section. Asked why not first class, Geithner said he always rides coach, "never first class".
One of my principle fears about Geithner was that he was potentially out of touch with "regular Americans," the same way that numerous execs from the financial industry have shown an almost alien disconnect from the rest of the world.
And yes, the cynical argument here will be that this is a purely symbolic gesture. What many people may not understand is that being a symbolic gesture is exactly the point! It's these small victories that get public support because the public really appreciates gestures like this.