Boo.

[prog]

We have now codified a national policy of private reward for socialized risk. Good job. Congress, I fart on you.

That said, this cartoon struck a nerve with me. I still stand by my actions, such as they are.

Comments

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Paul Krugman's take (more here) seems reasonable: the original Paulson plan was preposterously over-reaching, the Dodd-Frank amendments made it sane but not ideal, but a band-aid was needed to hold the economy together until the regime change in January when "an actually good plan" could be enacted.

[radtea.livejournal.com]

My own unbelievably cynical take on the plan as passed is that the equity provisions for the government are so weak as to be nearly meaningless, and there is no commitment to acquire the bank's assets at anything like current market prices. So Paulson's claim that the plan will have the effect of price discovery is absurd: Paulson will pay whatever Paulson thinks is reasonable, and get the commissars oversight committee to accept.