Lewis Alexander, Citigroup’s chief economist, is . . . being fired? Retiring in disgrace? No! He’s going to the Treasury Department. That’s right. The Wall Street Journal reminds us:

Mr. Alexander’s role as Citigroup’s chief economist didn’t entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives’ views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.

“I think that’s not going to spill over more broadly into the economy, and so I think we’re going to have a normal kind of housing cycle that’s going to last through the middle of this year,” Mr. Alexander said in a Feb. 28, 2007, interview on PBS.

In the past five quarters, Citigroup has booked a total of more than $37 billion in net losses, largely stemming from the company’s overexposure to the U.S. real-estate sector.

Is it possible no one really competent wants to work for Tim Geithner? Looks that way.