Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Doctor Doom�, says that the right way to proceed is to nationalize the banking system of the United States. Read more, photos and videos below.
Nouriel Roubini
Roubini first talked about nationalizing the banks in a column he wrote in Forbes last week; a firestorm has ensued since then, with even President Obama trying to stifle the rumors of nationalization. Liberals are all for it, Conservatives are against it; so what’s the answer? Roubini’s four choices from Forbes:
No. 1: Recapitalization together with the purchase by a government “bad bank” of the toxic assets;
No. 2: Recapitalization together with government guarantees–after a first loss by the banks–of the toxic assets;
No. 3: Private purchase of toxic assets with a government guarantee and/or–semi-equivalently (a provision of public capital to set up a public-private bad bank where private investors participate in the purchase of such assets–something similar to the U.S. government plan presented by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for a public-private investment fund);
No. 4: Outright government takeover (call it nationalization–or “receivership” if you don’t like the N-word) of insolvent banks, to be cleaned after takeover and then resold to the private sector.
Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve believes that the government taking over the banks is necessary, Ben Bernanke feels that it is certainly an option. Our own government has proven it has no qualms with taking over anything in the private sector. And we have a President who thinks government is the answer. It will probably happen.
The idea would be for government to ride in on a white horse, buy up insolvent banks, restructure and sell them back to the private sector. The only problem with that is, government always has a problem letting go of what they have gotten a hold of. From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Roubini tells me that bank nationalization “is something the partisans would have regarded as anathema a few weeks ago. But when I and others put it in the context of the Swedish approach [of the 1990s] — i.e. you take banks over, you clean them up, and you sell them in rapid order to the private sector — it’s clear that it’s temporary. No one’s in favor of a permanent government takeover of the financial system.”
Roubini is a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, He has his own consulting firm named appropriately, Roubini Global Economics, and right now, everybody in the media wants a piece of him; mainly because he is singing their tune. I’m not an economist, but the nationalization of our banks would be a major, probably irreversible step towards socialism; we seem to be headed that way as it is.
More photos and a video of Roubini are below.
Nouriel Roubini Photos
Roubini Dr. Doom Video
Photos: WENN.com
February 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
In for a nickle, in for two thousand dollars. Thats the power of derivatives and swaps in off loading banking risk to the taxpayer. The taxpayer moneys have helped cover a third of the losses with what was left of our earned wealth, maybe, and we have two thirds to go to what? to pay off someone else’s bad bets and bonuses? Big banks need to come clean and realize their real losses and produce a real balance sheet that will hold market mustard. We will either have to produce new wealth to pay off these debts somehow in a declining imploding economy, or print more money and try and inflate our way out of it. In otherwords it will constitute either a new tax, or future tax against our real wealth earnings stream as a nation. One approace is deflationary, the other inflationary, but either way its going to require real wealth out of our earnings. This will further contract our consumer spending even using the government as intermediary. It could take 6-8 years of earnings to do this, assuming its really done, and not another mirage in service of the banks and their unrealistic in-denial leadership.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
This Doctor Doom is not a client of the Hair Club.
And do we really expect this group of community organizers to spout anything but doom and gloom. They are all about the sheep getting their panties in a knot.
They need to leave this alone and it will correct itself.
This will blow up in Barry’s face and thank God he will only serve one term and only 2 years of it will be this crap. The last 2 years he will be in the minority party and a lame duck.
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:35 am
You’re right you are no economist. Your idea? Let the worlds largest insolvent banks go bankrupt? Obama may then be a one-termer but the country would be lost. Good idea.
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
So Chris you think the banks are keeping America going? Big government will not save America. Contrary to what Obamaites believe. If a bank is insovent it needs to fail.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Shannon,
Don’t confuse Chris with the facts. He just learned to tie his shoes. You can’t overwhelm Liberals with too much at once or they give off too much carbon and have to go and worship at Al Gore’s feet.
Banks have failed in the past and will fail in the future. The way that you get through this mess, is not to panic. The market will correct itself. If Obama had a clue, he would fix Freddie, Fannie and Barney. But hey why do something to really fix the housing debakel?
Obama is playing the panic card. Remember Rahm Bo Emanuel said, ‘Never allow a crisis to go to waste’.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm
No one can fail anymore and just lick their wounds, get up, and try again.
Instead, the fed rips out our tongues and makes us lick the loosers wounds and then we get stuck not even being able to speak or eat.
I’ll never be any kinda Shakespear, it was just a thought
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I note a consistent characteristic of “conservatives”, particularly those of the free market capitalist variety. Whenever they offer comments in response to anyone who may disagree ever so slightly with the myth of capitalism, they are almost without fail, arrogant, rude, aggressive and confrontational.
They seem incapable of offering a point, salient or otherwise, without resorting to vitriol, name-calling or the use of expletives. I suspect this may be because, throughout history, the dogma upon which they base their worship has ultimately produced nothing but exploitation, oppression, slavery and one bloody revolution after another.
I offer this as a simple, empirical observation since I have no particular desire to participate beyond that office in this enlightened discussion.
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Richard, you’re full of it.
I’ve been on this blog for at least half a year and have watched trolls come in and drop crap like no where else before while the conservatives make well laid out eloquent arguments many many times.
You may of not used any profanity or derogatory language in your assertions but trust me, they were just a stupid and rude as anything that has come from the finger tips of the lamest rookie out of the KOS
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Thank you micky. You prove my point much more eloquently than I could.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Richard,
We have stated our point. The government needs to stay out of this and let it correct itself. Name one program the government has that works.
February 24th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
The “government” has no plans. In affect, there is no legitimate government. It is owned by wall street and the corporatocracy.
There is nothing to correct. Any system based on usury is self-destructive and can only be artificially sustained for a limited time.
Let it die.
The endless accumulation of debt built through the application of interest will only continue to grow. Whatever artificial support systems are applied will ultimately fail unless the practice of usury is stopped.
February 24th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Yea, looks like Richard just came to by to drop his snotty injection of what he thinks the decorum should be and then fails to actually make a decent argument or answer questions directed at him
His assertion that there is “nothing to correct” is about as vacant a concept of whats going on as possible and sounds more like hes fresh out the 911 conspiracy freaks trufer camp.
Our economy has been in this predicament many times before and quite handidly corrected itself with limited to none government interventionism.
On that note without defining the cause, be it the stimulus or the private sector, Bernanke announced yesterday that recovery should be begin by the year 2010. Whether he actually believes that or not is up for debate but it sure is nice to hear someone saying were all not going to blow up next week
February 24th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Once again micky, thank you.
Your continued hostility and confrontational attitude simply reinforce my first comment.
I didn’t stop by here to argue with anyone.
Please take some time to learn about usury and apply what you find to our capitalist economy. It’s math, plain and simple.
Try this little fable as a starting point. It’s simplicity may put someone of your obvious intelligence off at first but it is actually a very worthwhile read.
http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html
I hope that whatever has you feeling so hostile will be resolved soon so that you can begin to look at things from more than one viewpoint.
February 24th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
“Please take some time to learn about usury and apply what you find to our capitalist economy. It’s math, plain and simple.”
Look buddy, I’m not arguing that what government is trying to apply is a proven failed method. I’m arguing that you think there is nothing correct.
Its not a mathematical argument, its a factual argument in that there is a system than can nad has repaired itself before.
You saying that there is nothing to correct is just plain stupid, got it ?.
The assertion that our government is owned by Wall Street and other corporate institutions is also just as dumb in that theres no doubt corporate interests play a huge roll in influencing the government but I sure as hell would rather have that than the type of governmental interventionism we see being put in place today.
When you can answer the question directed at you by George instead of rambling off lunatic conspiracies I’ll take you a little more seriously and offer the kind of coddling you seem to be so much in need of.
And really, ask me if I give a sh*t how you feel about my attitude or the way I speak.
February 24th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Richard makes good points here, but I for one do not think of you guys as conservatives at all. You guys are kind of like the bush frat club, but in my book conservatives dont destroy wealth the way the bush club and wallstreet did. Real conservatives have some common sense, some sense of accuracy, not just substituting all this vitriol schlock. I deal in logic and you guys are like wearing red lampshades and plugged into some dispicable archetype.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
This excerpt from an interesting old column adequately describes the way the definition of liberalism has been turned upside down.
“Liberalism as a political movement grew out of a revolt by the growing middle classes against government control of business back in the 1800s. Real liberals believe in a free-market economy and limited government, notions completely alien to the modern so-called liberal.
Thomas Jefferson said, “Government is best that governs least.” True liberals believe governmental power should be limited to providing a common defense, maintaining domestic peace, guaranteeing the rights of private property and enforcing obligations made by individuals who enter into contracts.
Modern liberals are more accurately described as “welfare liberals,” who don’t believe the average person is capable of conducting his or her life. This mutation of liberalism believes bureaucrats should make the decisions and dole out rights and freedoms as they see fit.â€?
What passes for conservatism today is in fact liberalism.
I belong to none of these schools.
The banking system, the fractional reserve system and the Federal Reserve Bank are instruments of usury. They are designed and operated to allow a select few to amass huge, unearned fortunes at the expense of the nation.
Economics is numbers and numbers are math and nothing more. It’s called accounting.
An economy that is based on usury only creates ever-increasing debt that can never be paid.
A charge of ten percent interest with no currency in circulation to service it creates debt that can’t be paid.
Usury is destructive of commerce and society as a whole. This is clearly observable at this time.
One hundred plus zero does not equal one hundred and ten.
If you believe in the principles upon which this nation was founded and the wisdom of those who enacted those principles then simply refresh your history and see what many of the founders have to say about private banks and bankers. They warned that this time would come if private banks were given control of the nation’s money.
“If the American people ever allow banks to issue their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations which will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property, until their children wake homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.� Thomas Jefferson
James Madison speaking on the first attempt to establish a central bank in America:
“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit and violent means possible, to maintain their control over governments, by controlling money and its issuance.”
“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late revolution. The free men of America did not wait until usurped power has strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.”
Andrew Jackson speaking on the second attempt to establish a central bank in America:
“If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.”
“I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic, inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a monied aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country.”
President Jackson told the bankers “You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal god, I will rout you out!”
February 24th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
good ole bipolar irascable jackson going on another tirade. wonder what bush has?
February 26th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Hopefully, at some point, a very long prison sentence.