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Sunday, October 5, 2008 |
TheStar: "The $700-billion (U.S.) bailout may save the financial system. But after ordinary people have anted up the cash, will their reward be nothing more than a return to the way things were? Even politicians are beginning to recognize that any lasting solution must deal with more than the barebones economics of the crisis.
Ironically, what they are groping for is the kind of solution that we've spent the past 40 years dismantling. It's time for another grand bargain - not necessarily the one that gave us the post-war welfare state, but one that delivers a similar quid pro quo. And it will go something like this: We'll save your damned old capitalism; we'll let you have the big houses and big salaries (although not necessarily quite as big as they were). But in return, you'll have to give us something back - on jobs, on wages, on the things that we need to live a civilized life. Nor will we let you destroy everything we hold dear just so you can make a buck.
And don't give us all that free-market guff. Because we know, just as you know, that at times of great stress, the free market doesn't work. This crisis has reminded us of that."
LATimes: "With congressional passage of the bailout bill Friday, the financial industry's focus will shift to the mechanics of the deal: How exactly does the government plan to spend up to $700 billion to buy troubled loans from banks?
Economists, bond traders and securities brokers say the process is certain to be vastly more complicated than a simple auction. The reason is that the assets to be purchased are a far cry from the objects customarily sold on EBay or, for that matter, the complex financial instruments traded on futures exchanges.
On the selling block will be at least 100,000 individual mortgage-backed bonds and other troubled securities along with a larger number of individual mortgage loans, according to a recent report by New York-based NERA Economic Consulting."
WorldContent: "Mag einer die Zocker verstehen, die Welt steht wieder mal Kopf: Unmittelbar nachdem das US-Repräsentantenhaus im zweiten Anlauf dem modifizierten Rettungsplan für die US-Finanzindustrie zustimmte, rauschte der Dow Jones in den Keller und gab innerhalb von zwanzig Minuten über 250 Punkte ab."
(Even if you understand the game, the world is again going topsy-turvy. Immediately after the agreement on the modified rescue plan for the US finance industry, the Dow Jones plunged down and lost more than 250 points within 20 minutes.)
2:13:27 PM 
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ITAR-TASS: "Seven peacekeepers were killed and another seven were injured in a car bomb explosion in Tskhinval, peacekeepers commander Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov told Itar-Tass.
A headquarters source told Itar-Tass that the car was registered in the Georgian village of Ditsi."
McClatchy: "An influential group of Georgian opposition leaders has mounted a blistering political campaign against U.S.-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili, accusing his government of running an autocratic regime that tramples human rights and stifles democracy.
The timing could embarrass the Bush administration, which is pressing NATO members to approve an action plan for Georgia - a key step toward full membership - at the organization's meeting in December.
The claims by many in the opposition, some of which have been affirmed by a top Georgian human-rights official, go to the heart of Washington's rationale for backing Saakashvili as a democratic force in a region where Russia is trying to re-establish dominance.
Saakashvili had widespread support even among the opposition immediately after the August war with Russia, but the country's domestic problems were quick to resurface, said Salome Zurabishvili, who previously served as foreign minister under Saakashvili.
'The balance has shifted,' she said. 'The main problem for Georgia is a lack of democracy.'"
1:50:38 PM
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© Copyright 2008.
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