Credit Crunch accountability

Tuesday, 30th September 2008 17:16 - by Resident IFA

I started writing this yesterday… “A few Blogs back, I wrote about the lack of pain and accountability the Credit Crunch Bankers had felt to that point. I questioned whether sanctions would be bought in to stop a repeat performance and calm the Banking sector's over-exuberance. The U.S. Government’s proposed $700Bn bail-out has at least helped in this regard. It is called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act 2008 and is being discussed and voted on by the House of Representatives and then the Senate. It contains conditions and clauses such as: - Only the first $250Bn will be released straight away. The White House ($100Bn) and Congress ($350Bn) can stop or veto the rest of the total $700Bn.” …then it all went wrong on the other side of the ‘pond’! It wasn’t a well-kept secret that both the Democrats and Republicans were unhappy with the proposals, but few would have thought the EES Act would be declined, despite the global implications. It seems that the pressure wrought on Congress by disgruntled ordinary U.S. citizens overcame that wrought on it by the White House. Did some Republicans vote ‘No’ purely in childish anger at the Democrat Speaker’s closing remarks? Is it that George W. Bush is in his ‘lame duck’ Presidential phase and that even such economic problems did not empower him to 'win over' Congress? Are Members of Congress too near an Election, and thus too worried, to have the fortitude make such crucial decisions? Whatever the weather, the Bush administration will ‘go again’ in trying to patch up the U.S. and global economy. After a break for the Jewish New Year, Congress will meet again on Thursday 2nd October to thrash out its problems with the rescue package, not voting until the weekend at the earliest. On the bright side, at least the FTSE100 is back over 4,900… Moosh update Moosh’s fame is growing and he has posted the results of the first week of his attempt to get from £1,000 to £1.98M in 250 trades. He is £20 up after two trades…a decent start. See more by moving to lse’s General Chat area and finding the ‘Moosh’s Diary’ thread in the ‘General’ section. Until next time…