Stiglitz says we should've nationalized banks. He's half right

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2009/11/obamas-economic-policy-has-doomed-us-to.html (We should have downsized them. Why reward failure) Bank Lending “We have this very strange situation today in America where we have given banks hundreds of billions of dollars and the president has to beg the banks to lend and they refuse,” Stiglitz said. “What we did was the wrong thing. It has weakened... [more]

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2009/11/obamas-economic-policy-has-doomed-us-to.html (We should have downsized them. Why reward failure) Bank Lending “We have this very strange situation today in America where we have given banks hundreds of billions of dollars and the president has to beg the banks to lend and they refuse,” Stiglitz said. “What we did was the wrong thing. It has weakened the economy and has increased our deficit, making it more difficult for the future.” While the U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the first expansion in more than a year, the Columbia University economist said the recession is “nowhere near” its end, citing rising unemployment and weak demand. The U.S. government plans to alter the way that a similar rescue would be handled in the future. Draft legislation proposes that banks, hedge funds and other financial firms holding more than $10 billion in assets would pay to rescue companies whose collapse would shake the financial system. (And it is an inherently unfair plan that creates even additional moral hazard by penalizing sound banking by forcing it to pay for reckless bank management. - Jesse) [less]