Obama Should Save the Banks, Not the Bankers

Tom Ferguson: Stimulus package is dangerously small; plan for toxic assets shovels money to bankers.
Thomas Ferguson is a political scientist and author who studies and writes on politics and economics, often within an historical perspective. He is a Political Science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is also a a contributing editor of The Nation. He is also the author of several books, the recent of which is Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political System

The Real News Network's Paul Jay sits down with Prof. Thomas Ferguson to discuss the latest government plans to help banks rid themselves of their troubled assets. Calling the economic situation simply "bad", Prof. Ferguson insists that the size of the stimulus is not capable of addressing the range of pressing issues that is facing the U.S. economy. With the unemployment rate nearing the 10 percent mark and the world economy continuing its downward momentum, Prof. Ferguson says that the size of the stimulus should have been at least 1.2 trillion dollars, if not more.

Part 2 and 3 of this interview are posted on The Real News website. For further interviews or to contact Paul Jay, visit The Real News website.

Comments

[oldfart1]

If we are going to get this mess straightened out, the perpetrators should at least be curbed ( I would prefer punished, but that's unrealistic).
So far the proposed regulations are little more than a slap on the wrist, maybe only a tap, certainly not enough. The picture is clear: Summers and Geistner think the perpetrators are needed. They are not. Every year fresh, young MBA's are annointed, and the supply far exceeds the need.
Obama should summon up his courage, and replace both Summers and Geistner, and get someone in there who knows Wall St. but is not a crony. Those people exist, and they can be recruited whether or not the WSJ likes the idea.

[NODRAMAME]

with regard to the stimulous pakage, it began at 819 billion dollars and to even get that voted in he had to go through moderate dems and 3 republicans who shaved it to 787 just to get it through. Right now to get his budget through you have 15 conserva dems standing in his way. So everything does not
rest with him alone. Our President is trying but he has the Rupublicans as well as some in his own party railing againt him. So if in fact his efforts do fail their will be many to share that blame with.