Socialists: Rescue Plan's Not Our Bag

Bailouts not a betrayal of free market ethos, really

(NEWSER) - Washington's bailout of the auto industry would normally "be a turning point in the history of American Capitalism,” writes Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post. Now it’s business as usual in “Bailout Nation.” That doesn’t mean the US has abandoned its free market ethos, or lost its appetite for creative destruction, Pearstein writes: There’s a genuine risk of a real depression here, so we’re temporarily putting practicality ahead of ideology. More»

'Unimaginable' spending will mean WWII-sized deficit

(NEWSER) - Washington's latest $1 trillion injection into the economy echoes Depression-era and WWII revival plans, but with a dangerous twist, writes Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times. Even if the bailouts succeed, the government's mountain of debt will likely bury the next generation in high interest rates and inflation. And unlike Depression-WWII spending, today's rescue plans are not building new factories or creating new technologies. More»

Taxpayers will also back $300 billion in shaky debt

(NEWSER) - The US will bail out Citigroup with $20 billion in fresh capital and a guarantee to mop up $306 billion in toxic assets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal, announced late last night, marks a turning point in the financial crisis: In addition to injecting nearly $300 billion into the nation's financial institutions, the feds now seem willing to take on selected banks’ bad assets as well. More»

Beijing blazed this trail in '98, and dependence more important now

(NEWSER) - Wondering how the bailout will work out? Look no further than China, David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post. Beijing test-piloted exactly this kind of strategy, doling out $15.1 billion to buy up companies gashed by the 1998 Hong Kong market crash. Now, he writes, the Chinese need to move toward a more outward-facing kind of capitalism even as the West leans toward nationalization. More»

(NEWSER) - As Wall Street banks collapse like a house of cards, American capitalism isn’t just failing in practice; the very idea of unregulated, free-functioning markets has received a serious blow, writes Anthony Faiola in the Washington Post. Once the symbols of American economic might, there's a real possibility that many US banks may find themselves partially government-owned as part of the bailout, altering America’s influence in pushing laissez-faire policies in controlled economies worldwide. More»