News & Comment

It is sad to see both major parties agree to spend $700 billion of taxpayer money to bail out huge financial institutions that are notable for two characteristics: incompetence and greed. There is a much better solution to the financial crisis. But it would require discarding what has been conventional wisdom for too long: that government intervention in the economy must be avoided like the plague, because the "free market" can be depended on to guide the economy toward growth and justice. Surely the sight of Wall Street begging for government aid is almost comic in light of its long devotion to a "free market" unregulated by government. read more »

The GOP has long been the home of two species of fundamentalists: Fundamentalist Economus and Fundamentalist Religulous. The alliance between the two has been uneasy, but victories have often been sufficient to paper over their differences. But all that matters in this election is the economy, and, try as he might, Sen. McCain cannot escape from his lifelong adherence to economic fundamentalism: Thou shalt honor the Market thy God, and thou shalt have no other gods before It. It must be left to rule us without interference. read more »

Despite obvious holes in the bailout story, reporters have almost unanimously accepted its premise. But now that events have cast new light on the bailout supporters' dubious claims, perhaps reporters can tug on a few threads that merit attention. read more »

So far, governments have not actually taken this financial crisis seriously. Oh, they know it's bad, and they intend to do some stuff to sort of fix it, mostly by running printing presses hot and giving money to bankers, then trying to make sure that money doesn't get to the real economy and cause inflation. But what would you really do if you were in charge of a company and you suddenly discovered that your corporate vice presidents were lying about the financial health of the company? read more »

The phenomenal financial crash of the past few weeks has hammered home what should be common sense: A free market needs reasonable rules that safeguard the public interest. So why would we accept the conservative argument that we should use that recipe for disaster to reform an already failing health-care system? read more »

In a speech at Georgetown University earlier this month, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan attributed the current financial meltdown to "lack of trust in the validity of accounting records of banks and other financial institutions" in the past year. Trust! Who knew? This is the same Greenspan who for years fought tooth and nail against federal efforts to monitor the trustworthiness of big banks. read more »

As we play pin the tail on the donkey for the betrayal of the free market, we must reflect soberly on how it was in fact an activist government that drove us into this cul-de-sac and attached a collective anchor to the ankles of Americans who were already treading water. Then let's be sure, as we swiftly move to implement our state-directed bailout, that we are—to quote Sen. Barack Obama on Iraq— "as careful getting out as we were careless getting in." read more »

U.S. Government policy needs to focus on efficiency for the most rapid recovery from our current crisis. I'm talking about the stuff that should be happening no matter what you think of the bailout. Here are my top contenders: read more »

Last week, as the bailout bill was being debated, the blog Naked Capitalism got its hands on the tape of a secret Treasury Department conference call whereby government officials reassured Wall Street speculators that all the supposed Democratic "improvements" to Henry Paulson's original bill were specifically written to be unenforceable. read more »

The last week has seen a tectonic shift in American politics and government. Those of us who opposed the $700 billion bailout have been proved correct, as the entire political, academic and financial Establishment has said what we were saying all along: the scheme to buy mortgage-backed assets is a giveaway to Wall Street, not a solution to a credit crisis. read more »