19 February 2009

Is Obama coming to G20?

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The FT web site is a treasure trove for useful bits and pieces.  Here is a story that will read with some alarm in the bunker.

The piece is about the possible US bank nationalisation.  It comes to a head in early April:

In early April, big institutions will publish their first-quarter results. If the intervening Treasury stress tests have not by then revealed the true state of their balance sheets, then their first-quarter results may do so.

“The first week in April – that’s when the children’s party is over,” says Chris Whalen, co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics. “That is when the obvious will become apparent.”

The Obama administration remains opposed to federal control. Mr Geithner last week said: “Governments are terrible managers of bad assets.”

Others say he may eventually face no choice. “The danger we face is a Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae scenario where government gives the banking sector guarantees and then socialises the losses,” says Adam Posen, an economist. “That’s the worst thing we could do.”

If Obama has to nationalise the US banks, I do not see how this could be done from London or Watford?

It will interesting to see if this story gains traction.

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2 comments:

  1. Well, if you can postpone the budget and part the Red Sea, then moving the G20 back should be no trouble at all for SuperGord...

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  2. I think that "parting the Red Sea" in Gordon's case means that he has split his own party :-)

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