Economist Dean Baker on the Bailout Panic - PHD says bankers have a gun to their head and say they will pull the trigger (leader, economic)

[freefall]

Economist Dean Baker on the Bailout Panic - PHD says bankers have a gun to their head and say they will pull the trigger if we don't give them 700 billion

Economist Dean Baker shares his thoughts on the bailout panic during a public panel held at the Institute for Policy Studies on Sept 30, 2008. Dr. Baker is the Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC and a columnist for The Washington Post and Atlantic Monthly.


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/10/02

[InformedConsent]

Baker almost got it right. It's foreign investors and governments, too. The foreign investors/governments problem is why Paulson is so panicked.

Lengthy explanation here:
//www.city-data.com/forum/5523738-post32.html

[freefall]

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

Baker almost got it right. It's foreign investors and governments, too. The foreign investors/governments problem is why Paulson is so panicked.

Lengthy explanation here:
//www.city-data.com/forum/5523738-post32.html

Fannie and Freddie already got bailed, that debt is protected already by taxpayers.

[ASmithWasCorrect]

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

Baker almost got it right. It's foreign investors and governments, too. The foreign investors/governments problem is why Paulson is so panicked.

Lengthy explanation here:
//www.city-data.com/forum/5523738-post32.html

Yep, the whole system is not as random as it would appear. Now the question will become who will plan this new monster- A decentralized ecosystem has just failed, so do we scrap the current, or tweak it?

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by freefall

Fannie and Freddie already got bailed, that debt is protected already by taxpayers.

You're forgetting about the guaranteed debt that Fannie and Freddie repackaged and sold around the world.

Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee ~$5.5 trillion in mortgages. Home values fell 16% over the last year (S&P/Case Schiller index), and the default rate continues to climb.

[freefall]

Originally Posted by InformedConsent

You're forgetting about the guaranteed debt that Fannie and Freddie repackaged and sold around the world.

Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee ~$5.5 trillion in mortgages. Home values fell 16% over the last year (S&P/Case Schiller index), and the default rate continues to climb.

Ok, let the taxpayers buy the repackaged debts directly, and let the big banks and hedge funds go bust like they should.

[WillysB]

House Republican leadership has caved in and announced they're going to support this "BETTER" bill. They're losers. They need to be sent home.

I'm about to go militant Libertarian.

[lobodog]

To: freefall
Ref: Ok, let the taxpayer... Good Point!
Could we add? The Government prints the money and lends at low rates, directly to qualified borrows. Cut the insolvent banks out altogether! Only competent banks with a solid history would be allowed to take part in this new program, and then only as a loan distributor, with strict rules applied and enforced. Banks in effect become a public service run by well-paid honest professionals.

[GregW]

If the bankers, that either got suckered into loaning mega money to unreliable people or even thieves, want to "pull the trigger" on themselves. Ok, I'll bring a sponge to wipe up the mess.

[InformedConsent]

Foreign holders of American debt are threatening to pull the trigger. We seem to be teetering on the edge.
naked capitalism: "Asia Needs Deal to Prevent Panic Selling of U.S. Debt"

Read the comments, too.