Meltdown (Frontline) PBS

[gam197]

Hour documentary on the banking crisis that has been on this week. (There was once 6 line clause that they tried to keep out of the bill but it was later put back in).

My own question…

When Treasure Secretary Paulson gathered in Washington all 9 heads of major banks to sign papers accepting government money, is this a step in nationalizing our banks?

But many analysts agreed with the application of the too-big-to-fail doctrine Friday. In this case, the Fed extended credit to keep Bear afloat, and urged a rapid buyout of the firm. A sign of the level of distress: The bank J.P. Morgan paid $2 per share Sunday for a company whose shares had traded in the $50s a few days earlier…

A number of proposals are on the table, including the use of taxpayer money to buy troubled loans at a discount and then ease the terms for homeowners.(I think this is what they call mark to market which Wall Street want and Obama is going to push)

Paulson has urged banks to take such action voluntarily. Bernanke recently put a fine point on that notion, calling for banks to write down loan balances to reflect the reality of today’s market prices. …

Paulson said that Bush policies and America’s long-term strength are “going to be reflected in the dollar.”
csmonitor.com/2008/0317/p01s09-usec.html?page=2

 

[Agripa]

Frontline - as usual - put together a great story, but I try to keep in mind its only a snapshot of key events leading to the crisis and a distillation of the possible solutions (they had to boil the complexities down to fit into that hour long program!

I do agree we are heading into an unprecedented era of government activism in our markets and in the daily lives of Americans which is a tendency for governments when faced with huge national problems.

The untold story yesterday was Obama moving 17,000 more troops to Afganistan. I am reminded that for all of FDR’s activist efforts to shore up the American economy in the 30’s, nothing really worked until WWII!

 

[gam197]

What is the “Swedish model” of banking?

Long regarded in the US as a folly of Europeans, nationalisation is gaining rapid acceptance among Washington opinion-formers – and not just with Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman. Perhaps stranger still, many of those talking about nationalising banks are Republicans.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for South Carolina, says that many of his colleagues, including John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate, agree with his view that nationalisation of some banks should be “on the table”. …

Mr Obama last weekend made clear he was leaning more towards the Swedish model than to the piecemeal approach taken in Japan, which many would argue is the direction US public policy appears to be heading.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ad3b750-fd27-11dd-a103-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

 

[gam197]

originally posted** by Agripa**
Frontline - as usual - put together a great story, but I try to keep in mind its only a snapshot of key events leading to the crisis and a distillation of the possible solutions (they had to boil the complexities down to fit into that hour long program!

Bump.

Thanks for clarifying. Inside the Meltdown does just give us snapshot of key information that most of us are unaware of. It gives us facts to work with and I think the more informed we are, the better we can make judgments so we don’t panic but keep faith in God.