Thursday, October 09, 2008

If the Treasury is now buying a majority stake in our

moribund US banks...then aren't we in effect socializing the banking system without recourse to the dreaded "S Word"? That at least was the lead story in today's New York Times, left unsaid was whether or not these are investment banks or commercial banks....not that there is much difference these days after those champion de-regulators Phil Gramm and John McCain got done with em'.
My point is, lending is paralyzed, the government is buying bank stock left and right sans much initial effect (the dow dropped another five hundred points today) at some point the medicine takes hold or else BIG enterprises with large payrolls go out of business for lack of access to credit.
So that next January the incoming President will be presented with a stagnant recession wracked economy and a finance sector that has been nationalized in a sneaky mealy-mouthed Texas bareque sort of a way.
And at that point, we are gonna need some very clear and concise thinking in the White House, ATOP that fabled change in direction.

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