Archive for the 'depression' Category
Shorter Henry Paulson
US Shifts Bailout Focus to Consumers:
The Treasury Department on Wednesday officially abandoned the original strategy behind its $700 billion effort to rescue the financial system, as administration officials acknowledged that banks and financial institutions were as unwilling as ever to lend to consumers…
Despite the mind-boggling amount of money that Congress has authorized the Treasury to [...]
David Brooks: “Sour Grapes”
Oh dear. Poor David Brooks is crying “sour grapes” again:
Nov. 4, 2008, is a historic day because it marks the end of an economic era, a political era and a generational era all at once.
Economically, it marks the end of the Long Boom, which began in 1983. Politically, it probably marks the end of conservative [...]
“Who Could Have Predicted?” Gets Old
I am getting really tired of the “who could have predicted” line that seems to be the response to every crisis engineered by the fools that purport to represent Americans in DC and the corporations they really serve.
This whole bankruptcy business is a classic example. “Who could have predicted allowing credit cards to charge any [...]
Bankruptcy Bill Now Screwing Credit Cards as Well As Consumers
A long time ago, I read a wonderful science fiction story, which might have actually been the basis of a “Twilight Zone” episode.
The story was set far in the future in an economic dystopia. Most people are unemployed, sustained by the government, and there is a long waiting list for even the basest manual labor. [...]
I Told You So, Part 2
So When Will banks Give Loans?
It was Oct. 17, just four days after JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, agreed to take a $25 billion capital injection courtesy of the United States government, when a JPMorgan employee asked that question. It came toward the end of an employee-only conference call that had been largely devoted [...]
Bailout or Handout?
From yesterday’s Times:
According to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the chief proponent of the big bank bailout, flooding the banks with taxpayers’ money was supposed to get them to start lending freely again. And that, in turn, was supposed to stabilize the markets and prevent the downturn from being worse than it otherwise would be.
It was [...]
Cannibal Credit Cards Crashing
Well gee, this is certainly a surprise:
After years of flooding Americans with credit card offers and sky-high credit lines, lenders are sharply curtailing both, just as an eroding economy squeezes consumers.
The pullback is affecting even creditworthy consumers and threatens an already beleaguered banking industry with another wave of heavy losses after an era in which [...]
No One Could Have Seen This Coming
Gee, what a surprise: Banks Are Likely to Hold Tight to Bailout Money
The deepening red ink underscores a crucial question about the government’s plan: Will lenders deploy their new-found capital quickly, as the Treasury hopes, and unlock the flow of credit through the economy? Or will they hoard the money to protect themselves?
John A. Thain, [...]
I Am Part of the Problem
Via atrios, I discovered that I am part of the problem:
Retail sales fell off a cliff in September, plunging by the largest amount in three years as worried consumers shunned the malls and auto showrooms in the midst of the country’s financial meltdown.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday retail sales decreased 1.2 percent last month, nearly [...]
I Was Right
Like atrios, I was right.
Two weeks after persuading Congress to let it spend $700 billion to buy distressed securities tied to mortgages, the Bush administration has put that idea aside in favor of a new approach that would have the government inject capital directly into the nation’s banks — in effect, partially nationalizing the industry.
As [...]
