Can Tim Geithner Lead the Economy Out of Its Mess?

Every year at the end of August, the high priests of the U.S. financial system — the board of governors and staff of the Federal Reserve — gather at a remote resort high in the mountains near Jackson Hole, Wyo., and there, amid the Tetons, listen to lectures by invited economists on a variety of topics, hoping the fresh air and proximity to genuine cowboy bars might lead to clear thinking and sound economic policy.

A good time is usually had by all — except when the global financial markets are sending out warnings of extreme stress to come. By...