As opposition mounts to the Treasury Department’s $700 billion behemoth of a banking bailout package the ideas for alternatives are starting to fly fast and furiously around the halls of Congress and beyond. Sen. Chuck Schumer asked why so much money needed to be injected into the mortgage and credit markets in one fall swoop—why not give a $150 billion down-payment and see how homeowners and banks responded? Instead of merely handing over massive sums of cash to the private financial firms that got us into this mess in the first place, why not make the government the primary share-holders in these companies, propping them up and allowing them to fix their mistakes? While holes are being shot through the original plan, it’s time to examine the alternatives.
Economics and Elections
Economics and Elections
November 21st, 2024
