Thursday Morning Links

It is only human nature to be spooked when a salesman tells you that you have to buy it right now, right this second. This seems to be the problem that both Paulson and Bernanke seem to be having with the financial markets- they are extremely poor salesmen, and common investors are reacting by walking away from the table. The multi-gazillion idea du jour, is, and we knew it would come to this, partial nationalization of the entire banking system. So, we have learned something new about economic systems here. Capitalism, if left on it's own, unregulated, leads to socialism.
In speaking with a banker friend last night, the explanation of the crisis is simple. Banks have been cooking the books for years and now everyone knows it. Now banks won't lend to each other because nobody knows for sure if the other guy is actually solvent. Great. So, the solution is to throw Trillions at the problem and sort out these little solvency problems later. This probably explains the rush job. Apparently, Paulson & Co. have little interest in getting their banker buddies in trouble. If nobody trusts each other, perhaps we should have a nationwide audit to clear the good banks from the bad, before we go nationalizing everything. Finally, the crooks that ran these banks should be stripped of every dime they have and be thrown in jail for a very long time.
U.S. Mulls Partially Nationalizing Banks (NY Times)
Manhattan House Retail Sells For $86 Million (The Real Deal)
Era Of The Million Dollar Studio Lives On (Curbed)
Brooklyn Nondos And Rent-To-Own Are All The Rage (Curbed)

Comments

  1. why not tar and feather too?

    Hmm, your first sentence reminds me of just about every open house I've ever been to in NYC.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why not?
    I hear ya on the open house analogy.

    ReplyDelete

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