The US dollar fell a bit more than 6% during Geithner’s four years as Treasury Secretary, as measured by the Dollar Index. Jack Lew was sworn in as his replacement today.
![US dollar index during Geithners term](http://az705044.vo.msecnd.net/20130228/US-dollar-index-during-Geithners-term-330x237.png)
What might be more interesting is to see Geithner-era US dollar performance broken down by currency. If not for the rally in USD/JPY in the past few months, the dollar would have been down against every G10 currency during his term, including 60% losses against AUD and NZD.
![Currency returns vs USD during Geithner term](http://az705044.vo.msecnd.net/20130228/Currency-returns-vs-USD-during-Geithner-term-330x150.png)
Expect the dollar to perform much better under Lew as investment booms in oil and gas (see today’s WSJ) and the economy recovers.
…and here is a bit of fun.
The best part of being Treasury Secretary is that your signature appears on US paper money.
![](http://az705044.vo.msecnd.net/20130228/Geithner-330x178.png)
I assume that shortly after Jack Lew is sworn in, he will be asked to provide sample of his signature to replace Geithner’s (if he hasn’t already).
Here’s the problem — this is Jack Lew’s signature looks like it was penned by a first grader:
![Jack Lew Signature](http://az705044.vo.msecnd.net/20130228/Jack-Lew-Signature-330x121.png)
There is precedent for this, as Geithner changed his signature to appear more stately on the money but here’s hoping that Lew sticks to his guns… or circles.