Monday, September 08, 2008

Saving the People's Bank of China

I referred to Krugman's and Mankiw's comments on the Fannie/Freddie takeover. Well, Daniel Gross provides an entirely different perspective on this: that the takeover was urgent because
the potential victims were central banks and foreign institutions that have
bought their debt by the boatload. It's no accident that the takeover was
announced in the middle of the day on Sunday. (Barry Ritholtz chronicles a slew of
other recent Sunday credit-related announcements.) It was timed to get out
before the Asian markets opened for trading on Monday.

He then ends with:
The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be sold and marketed as an effort
to shore up the U.S. housing market. Maybe so. But it is mostly meant to shore
up our damaged international financial standing, preserving leadership and
making sure the U.S. Treasury Secretary doesn't get tarred and feathered at the
next G-8 meeting.

Really? And not to protect the interests of the American consumers and taxpayers? it is e e cummings all over again :-(

No comments: