You really can't make this shit up: "The economy is in a much stronger position to handle” rising oil prices, Tim Geithner said today during a Bloomberg Breakfast in Washington. “Central banks have a lot of experience in managing these things." We are, all of us, now doomed.

Bloomberg's account of one lunatic's daily ramblings in a collapsing world:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the economic recovery has put the world on a better footing to withstand the increase in oil prices caused by turmoil in the Middle East.



“The economy is in a much stronger position to handle” rising oil prices, Geithner said today during a Bloomberg Breakfast in Washington. “Central banks have a lot of experience in managing these things.”



Political turmoil in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, will add “stagflationary winds” to the global economy, according to Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer at Pacific Investment Management Co. Protests in Libya pose more “systemic” risk to the global economy than the upheaval in Egypt and Tunisia, El-Erian said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday.



Geithner also said the U.S. financial system is in better shape than before the recession and is able to provide the funding needed for the expansion.



“The core of the American financial system is in a much stronger position than it was before the crisis,” he said. “We’re way ahead of any other major economy.”

And if the confirmation that we have a lunatic in charge was not enough, here is the punchline:

“The economy is gradually getting stronger,” Geithner said today, adding “I wouldn’t get carried away with it.”

Don't worry TurboTax, you will get carried away... by a mob of unruly protestors who finally realize that Libya was not an isolated incident.