Barofsky, the former special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Recovery Program, is scathingly critical of Geithner, President Obama’s Treasury secretary, in Barofsky’s new book, "Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street." Yes, there is “obvious mutual loathing” between the two, and yes, there is a real policy disagreement between them and their allies “about the relative importance of household balance sheets versus the credit channel to laying the preconditions for growth.”

“Team Tim would say that they’re trying to create a well-capitalized banking system in order to bolster the broader economy,” Yglesias blogged at Slate. “Team Neil counters that the broader economy would be better served by a policy that imposed steep losses on banks and instead repaired household balance sheets.”

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