Depression, No—but That Lesson Is Vital

American leadership is 'scarcer than credit,' writes Brooks

(NEWSER) - When FDR became president, writes David Brooks, his first priority was to give Americans faith in their leadership, to show that someone was running the show. Now that the US is facing the greatest financial crisis since the Depression, today's political leaders "have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed." More»

(NEWSER) - During the Great Depression, legend has it a group of Wall Street bankers went to Hollywood to see if it was worth investing in, only to be immediately repulsed by the brazen displays of wealth they saw there. Now that it's the bankers being pilloried for their excesses, writes Neal Gabler in the Boston Globe, it could be argued that the whole economic mess we're in is the result of once-stodgy Wall Street becoming Hollywoodized. More»

Soros, Dell among the players in FDIC's damaged-goods sale

(NEWSER) - A team of high-profile investors has bought the remains of failed bank IndyMac from the FDIC for $13.9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. The investors, including George Soros and computer tycoon Michael Dell, have agreed to share the losses from IndyMac's portfolio of troubled mortgages in a deal expected to cost the FDIC around $9 billion. More»

The downtime before inaguration could make things grimmer yet

(NEWSER) - The state of the economy right now reminds Paul Krugman a lot of the start of the Great Depression, including a lame-duck administration that seems to have no credibility, hence no influence on the markets, the columnist writes in the New York Times. Drastic damage was done to the country in the months of paralysis between the election and the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt, and Krugman sees the same thing happening now. More»

Either let US set limits, or make firms set aside cash: economist

(NEWSER) - Regardless of who wins today’s election, one issue from this campaign will continue to burn hot with investors, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the New York Times. Both candidates have blamed executive pay for the financial collapse, as execs are rewarded for risk-taking while rarely penalized for failure. But a University of Chicago finance professor has suggested an approach that might just work. More»