01/24/09: OBAMA'S BANK BAILOUT PLAN: MORE OF THE SAME?
Posted by: John
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25regulate.html?_r=1
Right on target, but still no proposition for resolving the existing financial crisis. Obama has signaled no departure from Paulson on "lending" money to insolvent financial institutions to burn through and keep coming back for more.
In the present situation insolvent banks have to pay such high interest rates on the open market that they are unable to make a profit from borrowing and can only continue to operate if they are “lent” taxpayer money at greatly reduced rates. This does nothing to improve their business models, and the new debt to the government further reduces their net worth and is used primarily to pay the bills a little longer while hoping for another handout. It is unlikely that banks or anyone else can regain solvency that way.
The better solution is to nationalize insolvent banks, wiping out shareholder equity (shareholders bear the risk of insolvency) by the government buying just enough toxic debt to make the banks barely solvent. The nearly-insolvent nationalized financial institutions will be able to borrow on the open market (not from the taxpayers) at low interest rates through full government backing of their debts. When through strict supervision the nationalized banks become profitable for long enough to regain solvency, they can be resold to the private sector. This is essentially how the savings and loan crisis was resolved.
Right on target, but still no proposition for resolving the existing financial crisis. Obama has signaled no departure from Paulson on "lending" money to insolvent financial institutions to burn through and keep coming back for more.
In the present situation insolvent banks have to pay such high interest rates on the open market that they are unable to make a profit from borrowing and can only continue to operate if they are “lent” taxpayer money at greatly reduced rates. This does nothing to improve their business models, and the new debt to the government further reduces their net worth and is used primarily to pay the bills a little longer while hoping for another handout. It is unlikely that banks or anyone else can regain solvency that way.
The better solution is to nationalize insolvent banks, wiping out shareholder equity (shareholders bear the risk of insolvency) by the government buying just enough toxic debt to make the banks barely solvent. The nearly-insolvent nationalized financial institutions will be able to borrow on the open market (not from the taxpayers) at low interest rates through full government backing of their debts. When through strict supervision the nationalized banks become profitable for long enough to regain solvency, they can be resold to the private sector. This is essentially how the savings and loan crisis was resolved.