Paul Krugman: Cash for Trash

[babylonsister]

Cash for Trash
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 21, 2008


Some skeptics are calling Henry Paulson’s $700 billion rescue plan for the U.S. financial system “cash for trash.” Others are calling the proposed legislation the Authorization for Use of Financial Force, after the Authorization for Use of Military Force, the infamous bill that gave the Bush administration the green light to invade Iraq.

There’s justice in the gibes. Everyone agrees that something major must be done. But Mr. Paulson is demanding extraordinary power for himself — and for his successor — to deploy taxpayers’ money on behalf of a plan that, as far as I can see, doesn’t make sense.

Some are saying that we should simply trust Mr. Paulson, because he’s a smart guy who knows what he’s doing. But that’s only half true: he is a smart guy, but what, exactly, in the experience of the past year and a half — a period during which Mr. Paulson repeatedly declared the financial crisis “contained,” and then offered a series of unsuccessful fixes — justifies the belief that he knows what he’s doing? He’s making it up as he goes along, just like the rest of us.

So let’s try to think this through for ourselves. I have a four-step view of the financial crisis:

1. The bursting of the housing bubble has led to a surge in defaults and foreclosures, which in turn has led to a plunge in the prices of mortgage-backed securities — assets whose value ultimately comes from mortgage payments.

2. These financial losses have left many financial institutions with too little capital — too few assets compared with their debt. This problem is especially severe because everyone took on so much debt during the bubble years.

3. Because financial institutions have too little capital relative to their debt, they haven’t been able or willing to provide the credit the economy needs.

4. Financial institutions have been trying to pay down their debt by selling assets, including those mortgage-backed securities, but this drives asset prices down and makes their financial position even worse. This vicious circle is what some call the “paradox of deleveraging.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/opinion/22krugman.html?th&emc=th

[Lebam in LA]

1. K&R

[TomClash]

2. I agree in toto

An excellent article.

[ixion]

3. I'm surprised Krugman doesn't mention the biggest problem with "the plan"

we DON'T HAVE a TRILLION bucks to just hand out.

[Time for change]

4. I'll trust Krugman any day over Paulson

[Javaman]

5. Mr. Paulson is also an expert at whistling past the grave yard...

the problem is; the bodies refused to die and now want his brain.

[mzmolly]

6. It appears as though some of his advice was

accepted?