This really going to go down? "this" being America

[Apoc]

[Ginger]

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[Evan]

Considering your current g-chat status message is from an article criticizing his mortgage bailouts, are you still drinking the trendy kool aid, or are you ready to see him at face value?

am i perfectly happy with everything he's suggesting? no. would it be safe to say i'm slightly concerned? yes. am i going to pass judgment based on what a guy can do to a country in a month? come on...

why, I thought the play was quite good too, Mrs. Lincoln.

[Mike]

:?:

[Apoc]

He's relating your ignorance of the last 6 weeks of presidency to someone liking a play despite her husband being murdered. Pretty silly, if you ask me... especially since he didn't even get the quote right.

[Mike]

i guess i'm not sure how he's assuming my level of ignorance.

[Andy]

Has anyone been reading Simon Johnson's baselinescenario.com. Former chief economist for the IMF. It's really interesting and frankly, paints a pretty scary picture of our economy. One interesting point he made was that if it were any other country, the IMF would have recommended the temporary nationalization of the banks and shit can the executives who led their nation into this mess.

Second, he think that if you made the banks mark their assets to market rates, some of the largest banks including citigroup and bank of america would be insolvent which means their assets + capital won't cover their liability. Scary shit.

[Ginger]

It's a scary situation, but the IMF's track record of effective reform is largely hit or miss... honestly, I don't credit them with anything. I certainly don't agree with that one gentleman's proposals... but I can agree that the economy is in for a rough ride.

[John]

IMF has a very spotty record - and that's being generous. Also, they primarily deal with developing countries where other factors are involved, not the traditional large capital markets that are currenlty facing the shitstorm.

[Andy]

i'm no fan of the IMF but you guys should check out his blog. It's pretty informative and even if you don't agree, it's factually grounded so at least you have another opinion.

Josh Steinberg from Wharton is also interesting.

[Andy]

Proposed solution from Robert Johnson, former chief economist for Senate banking committee.

Make top 5 banks mark their assets to markets rates which shows that they are insolvent. Insolvent banks = FDIC intervention=shitcan the execs of these banks, seize assets, insure first 250k and 50% of deposits there after. After balance sheet is restored, FDIC sells back stake in banks. Small ex. of FDIC intervention would be Indymac.

here's an article from the nation:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/ferguson_johnson

[HAULN-SS]

I'm glad we invested in a 700B TARP package to rescue the banks, and more for the car companies. </sarcasm> seems like the numbers must have been way off for what was actually needed? GM and Citi have said they don't need any more right now (GM's restructuring appears to be working, believe it or not). And there was so much red (commie) tape attached to the money, hundreds of smaller banks said no thanks...

[Andy]

Has anyone come across an article that accounts for the losses that 401k's/IRA's have incurred in the past 12 months? I can't seem to find anything.

[stevegula]

I'm glad we invested in a 700B TARP package to rescue the banks, and more for the car companies. </sarcasm> seems like the numbers must have been way off for what was actually needed? GM and Citi have said they don't need any more right now (GM's restructuring appears to be working, believe it or not). And there was so much red (commie) tape attached to the money, hundreds of smaller banks said no thanks...

haha I just saw a video the other day of a presentation in congress by one of the reps where he said (paraphrasing) "This is my favorite quote. When asked why 700 billion dollars (some lady involved) responded with 'It's not based on any data, we just wanted a large number but not too large.'"

[HAULN-SS]

China and Russia are talking about creating a reserve currency to replace the dollar. When the Commies and Socialists think you're spending too much..might be time to take a breather.