Actually, we (collectively) feel fine. The reference is, of
course, to the REM song: It's the end of the world as we know it,
and I feel fine." Well, Hank Paulson, the nation's chief
panic-monger, told us for two weeks that if we didn't bail out Wall
Street, the world as we knew it (or at least the economic world as
we knew it) would come to an end. Yeah, right. As I write, the Dow
industrial average today is up 350 points. Paulson can take back
what John Boehner called his "cr@p sandwich" and swallow hard.
At a press conference today, the ever-interesting Newt Gingrich
not only again demanded Paulson's resignation, but he also said
there should be an investigation into Goldman Sachs. Why is it that
G-S, Paulson's old firm, is about the only investment bank coming
out of this smelling like a rose? WHy is it (if true) that, as
reported by the NYTimes, a G-S official was the only private-sector
rep in the meetings at which AIG (or was it Fannie/Freddie -- I
think it was AIG) was bailed out? Is it true that G-S had a $20
billion stake in AIG? And was G-S shorting Bear Stearns, as rumor
has it? With Paulson asking for a $700 billion blank check, and
with White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten being a former G-S
exec, and with other G-S execs or former execs playing outsized
roles in this whole seven-months long "crisis," I alread had been
joking (for days before the Gingrich press conference) that George
W. Bush has been acting as if he is Chairman of the Board of the
United Executives of Goldman Sachs.
Well, this bailout might have been a great idea from the narrow
little standpoint of G-S and Wall Street, but the American people
smelled a rat. Other good ideas abound as to how to help get credit
flowing again. Meanwhile, the market is smart enough to know
bargains when it sees them. The market works well enough to absorb
losses and move on. It's not the end of the world as we know it. No
thanks to Paulson, we do feel fine.
topics:
John Boehner, Hank Paulson
