Economic Crisis Is Too Advanced for Rescue

(NEWSER) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke fielded questions from the public in an unprecedented town hall meeting last night, the Kansas City star reports. Sounding every bit like a candidate running for office, Bernanke defended his moves during the recession and financial crisis, saying he had learned from his predecessors' mistakes in the 1930s. "I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression," Bernanke told the audience. More»

Rescuing firms from mess they created will send message that bills don't need to be paid

(NEWSER) - America needs to learn some hard lessons that a $700 billion bailout of the economy isn't going to teach, David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post. If the the country manages to dodge a depression, the message will be that irresponsible behavior brings a rescue, and that bills don't need to be paid, he notes. More»

Deal seems to be grinding gears

(NEWSER) - The federal auto industry bailout appeared to be stuck in neutral as President Bush warned today that a deal is not imminent. "We're not quite ready to announce that yet," Bush told reporters on a plane to Afghanistan. Lawmakers expected the administration to quickly reallocate part of the $700 billion market-recovery pot after Congress failed to rescue the Big Three last week, Reuters reports. More»

A growing majority blames financial crisis on deregulation

(NEWSER) - A clear majority of Americans approve of Washington taking firm steps to intervene in the nation's struggling economy, a Los Angeles Times poll finds. Two-thirds favor tighter restrictions on financial institutions and 60% back help for homeowners facing foreclosure. A huge 87% blamed deregulation for the economic crisis—up 25% from a similar poll in September. More»

Bankruptcy saved that industry, but auto isn't exactly the same

(NEWSER) - When the steel industry was floundering, many people thought the worst possible outcome would be to allow the big, old companies to go bankrupt. But it took that failure to pare down the industry to a workable size and inject new life into it, David Streitfeld writes in the New York Times. Could the same be true of the auto industry? More»