Hans Rustad Den føderale regjeringen går inn og redder Citibank fra kollaps med $ 20 milliarder. Hvordan skal den da unngå å redde bilindustriens to millioner arbeidsplasser? Krisen utvider seg som ringene i vannet.
Thomas L. Friedman er ute på byen og får lyst på å gå fra bord til bord og si til folk: -Dette har dere ikke råd til. Gå hjem og bli hjemme.
Han har en morsom vri på dagens situasjon: USA har oppdaget WMD, masseødeleggelsesvåpen. De lå ikke i Irak, men hjemme i bakgården, i form av råtne lån.
Citibank står inne for $ 300 milliarder i usikre lån.
Friedman mener vi opplever en unntakstilstand. USA har ikke råd til å vente to måneder til Obama er på plass. Bush bør utnevne den nye finansminsitere nå, med en gang. Dvs. Tim Geithner, Obamas valg, bør på plass fortere enn svint. Så alvorlig er situasjonen.
It’s simply that we can’t afford two months of transition where the markets don’t know who is in charge or where we’re going. At the same time, Congress should remain in permanent session to pass any needed legislation.
This is the real «Code Red.» As one banker remarked to me: «We finally found the W.M.D.» They were buried in our own backyard — subprime mortgages and all the derivatives attached to them.
Det er noen lyspunkter: David Brooks er imponert over teamet Obama setter sammen. De er ikke bare flinke, de er noe mye mer: de har kompetansen, den praktiske sansen, og kjenner Washington.
First, these are open-minded individuals who are persuadable by evidence. Orszag, who will probably be budget director, is trusted by Republicans and Democrats for his honest presentation of the facts.
Second, they are admired professionals. Conservative legal experts have a high regard for the probable attorney general, Eric Holder, despite the business over the Marc Rich pardon.
Third, they are not excessively partisan. Obama signaled that he means to live up to his postpartisan rhetoric by letting Joe Lieberman keep his committee chairmanship.
Fourth, they are not ideological. The economic advisers, Furman and Goolsbee, are moderate and thoughtful Democrats. Hillary Clinton at State is problematic, mostly because nobody has a role for her husband. But, as she has demonstrated in the Senate, her foreign-policy views are hardheaded and pragmatic. (It would be great to see her set of interests complemented by Samantha Power’s set of interests at the U.N.)
Finally, there are many people on this team with practical creativity. Any think tanker can come up with broad doctrines, but it is rare to find people who can give the president a list of concrete steps he can do day by day to advance American interests. Dennis Ross, who advised Obama during the campaign, is the best I’ve ever seen at this, but Rahm Emanuel also has this capacity, as does Craig and legislative liaison Phil Schiliro.
Believe me, I’m trying not to join in the vast, heaving O-phoria now sweeping the coastal haute bourgeoisie. But the personnel decisions have been superb. The events of the past two weeks should be reassuring to anybody who feared that Obama would veer to the left or would suffer self-inflicted wounds because of his inexperience. He’s off to a start that nearly justifies the hype.
I denne beskrivelsen kunne det også være noe å lære for norske journalister som har noen få og enkle parametre for å vurdere utnevnelser av typen: for eller mot, hauk eller due.
Obamas folk blir stilt overfor en meget vanskelig oppgave. Løsningen står ikke i lærebøkene. Hva skal til for å stanse fallet?
But, basically, it seems to me, we’re all flying blind. The markets are spiraling down, and our leading experts don’t have much of a clue as to what to do.
Vi flyr i blinde. En konkurs i Detroit kan være flyet som treffer en fjellside.
