Henry Paulson might be forgiven for omission of facts in these troubled financial times - telling us everything might further erode the standing of businesses, and an economy, that might otherwise do better. But there’s a difference between that and lying and making things up (like the number 700 billion) and Paulson seems to have done both. Henry Paulson is a member of the Bush Administration in more ways than one now - and there’s no reason to believe him or them, especially in a crisis recently ‘discovered.’ Paulson has the wherewithal to buy assets now along with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, as their management of Washington Mutual’s deposits going to JP Morgan Chase shows. Let him use what he has for now - asking for specific help from congress if he needs it. In a handful of months, if a bailout is still seen as necessary, let some other administration make the case and the policy. To my mind it’s a matter of trust.
That said, I’m not an economist. Here are what two economist’s think that I respect - one idea of what we might do - and another.
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