The UK Bails Out Banks the Right Way

The British government announced this morning that it is bailing out its banks by directly injecting capital through the purchase of preferred shares. It announced that the banks will suspend dividends and that top executives will get pay cuts.

This is what many economists advocated be done in the United States, but apparently the Bush administration never considered this route. We'll see which bailout works better.

Comments

[demfriend]

While watching the BBC this am I was struck with all of the talk that made sense about rhe "global economy" not the US but what each country besides is doing with talk and thoughts with rational understanding how each impacted the other. The safeguards each has had in place and how these things have been automatic in some contries and not in others. I have not really got the sense of this kind of thought process or unity here in our own country. It's too much weight put upon the one guy who was supposed to oversee the economy in ways the Sec of Treasury as well as Bernanke withou either one a shining star. Greenspan sold us this mess with his pushing deregulation like it would make everyone rich. it did in big business the friends of this administration and long before. The housing "bubble" was long known to be one and yet who was minding the economy and us? I believe we should take advantage of those with sounder minds than ours in other countries and see options not the poop flying fool and the guy who will support him to the death of us.

[vietveter]

The Bu$h boyz would never take this path

it makes too much sense

Buy in? NEVER

Give out? HELLYEAH

Please God, let America survive these people for 100 more days

[ouroborous]

By god, those CEO's are the hardest working, smartest people around! They DESERVE zillion-dollar payouts while the company they supposedly ran is cratering!

How long are we all going to keep following the "CEO as superstar" myth? These people are LUCKY, that's all. Lucky, and greedy. Although we may be envious, the truth is that neither luck nor greed are admirable qualities (one is neutral, and one is downright icky).

The truth is that true "American success stories" (you know, where someone rises up from nothing to make it big) are exceedingly rare. I wish I could remember (and cite) the source, but I remember reading a news story a while back discussing the fact that the biggest predictor of wealth is -- wealth. In other words, it's less about working hard, being smart, and playing fair than it is about having a fat wallet and good connections. But, you know, that story doesn't tug at the heartstrings quite so well...

Until we stop slavishly worshiping our so-called "captains of industry," we're going to be stuck in this loop.

[JohnFromCensornati]

"apparently the Bush administration never considered this route"

Of course they didn't. The question is: Why didn't anyone else consider this? The obvious answer is that the Dims are too stupid (or corrupt) to do anything other than follow King George W's lead.

[vippy]

Greed in the UK is not as prevalent as here in the U.S. either. We saw that with the AIG top managers, they could not careless where the money comes from and what is worse, no one will hold them
accountable.

[Rule Of Law]

Given the Bank of England/House of Rothschild connection I would not go so far as to say that they are not as greedy. Remember, they once had the Empire on which the sun never set--and not so long ago. There are Empires of land and sea, and there are Empires of Paper and Power. Don't believe that Great Britain has diminished. They've just traded one empire for another.

That said, I really do wish that we could have followed the same road--they were just taking a page from the Swedish intervention in the early 90's that got them back on track in about two years!--and whatever their motivation, it certainly seems to be a more populist oriented fix than our continued pillaging of the public pocket, here.