A reader emailed us this excellent video from Channel 4 News in Great Britain. Their economics reporter is Faisal Islam, and he's put together a little clip that you'll enjoying seeing. Interestingly, on he laments the lack of transparency with the UK bailouts and praises our own. Odd in that most observers here make the same complaint about our own particular bailout bastion of disaster.
(Guest post from James H.)
In this clip from Morning Meeting, Ratigan talks with Christina Romer, Miss Sunshine and Lollypops, about vampires, the Fed and the economy.
The head of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors says that the TARP and all the other bailout programs to save the zombie banks was “money incredibly well spent.” Turning our economy Japanese by propping up failed banks is apparently the way to ensure a healthy, growing economy, right?
But once again, Ratigan brings things back to the core issues: “Doesn’t it also matter how you grow? In other words, if you grow by paying yourself, but risking other people’s assets....how do I get back to growth driven by a culture of investors and innovators as opposed to a culture of vampires, who are basically taking money out in the short term? It creates growth, but then we’re stuck with the pile of blood, so to speak.”
Sunshine and Lollypops brought her best game, but she was no match for vampires and blood piles. In the quest for truth and justice, score another win for DR.
Editor's note: In case you ever wanted to email Christina, her still-functioning Berkeley email address is cromer@econ.berkely.edu
The last time Ratigan & Romer met it didn't go as smoothly for Christina.
Hello Tokyo.
The U.S. faces a serious risk of economic malaise lasting several years. He did not rule out a multi-decade period of slumber and false starts. True to his roots he advocates government spending to keep things flowing along the way. However, I give him credit for understanding that any and all future government stimulus programs must be targeted at technology, education and infrastructure.
I said at the time of the passage of our current stimulation that its fatal flaw would be the lack of thematic 'hugeness' for lack of a better term. If you're going to borrow $800 billion to boost the economy, give us something substantial in return. A modern day Hoover Damn or TVA, that we can at least be quasi-proud in acknowledging: such as a nationwide network of electric car charging stations like what is being deployed in Israel.
So Stiglitz seems to understand that any future borrowed money to be wasted down the government money hole must give us something in return both in substance and in theme.
And one more thought, as long as we're Socialists, why don't we use some borrowed dough to accumulate natural resources around the globe. The Chinese are scooping up the materials for the next century while we waste trillions playing bailout bingo with failed financial institutions. Could we have some leadership and vision from Washington, please.
This should come as a surprise to no one. Fannie and Freddie each has authorization for up to $200 billion under current law. So far they have tapped taxpayers for $85 billion combined, but you can safely assume they will need the entire $400 billion before it's over, according to recent research from Chris Isidore.
Outgoing regulator for Fannie and Freddie sat down last week with Bloomberg to discuss the future for the bailout black holes. The Washington Post also has this update from Lockhart.
This is another outstanding video from The American News Project, the outfit responsible for this mammoth truth-bomb (best video on the site) on the Federal Reserve.
The ANP cameras follow TARP COP chief as she prepares for hearings in Washington. The piece was produced in association with McClatchey, who has an accompanying article here.
Also the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which Dr. Warren chairs, released a new report yesterday, The Continued Risk of Troubled Assets. New York Times coverage of the report can be found here.
Aug 13, 2009 at 4:17 AM
