Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said “paralysis” in the U.S. political system has worsened the nation’s economic challenges.

The damage from the financial crisis was especially severe because the economy was weakened by declining public infrastructure and rising public debt, he said Thursday.

“Our economic challenges are tough, but the critical test we face is a political challenge,” Geithner said in a speech at the commencement ceremony for Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. “We just need to rediscover the political ability to solve the big problems still ahead of us.”

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans

Republicans rejected President Barack Obama’s $3.8 trillion election-year budget plan, saying it didn’t go far enough to reduce the deficit or boost economic growth. Obama’s proposed budget, while initially boosting the U.S. economy, would later this decade become a drag on growth, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said April 20.

Geithner said the country’s challenges are “magnified today by the paralysis in our political system.” He cited the “brave work” of his predecessor, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for their role in the financial crisis.

‘Healthy Skepticism’

Geithner urged students to retain a healthy skepticism about the world. “Be skeptical of those offering excessive conviction on any issue,” Geithner told the school from which he obtained a masters degree. “Don’t expect people to behave rationally.”

Geithner graduated from the school, often referred to as SAIS, with a masters in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985, according to his biography posted on the Treasury Department’s website.

“What we experienced in 2008 and 2009 was a terrible crisis, caused by a shock larger than what caused the Great Depression,” the Treasury secretary said. “Today, the country is still living though the aftershocks, and we will be for some time.”

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans