Reenita's Wisdom

The failure of Lehman Brothers is seen as the last straw that broke the credit market. Did Paulson make a big mistake?

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Although we have been glued to the news these past few weeks, I am cognizant of the fact that the exact sequence of development with regard to the financial crisis is not a hundred percent clear to everyone.

In an effort to demystify the code, I recently put together a laypersons’ blogpost for Inspired Economist. Check it out to understand exactly how America went from mortgage to bailout:

From Mortgage to Bailout: How Did The Problem Arise?

The beginnings of another new economy are taking shape as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs prepare to close the curtain on investment banking.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, making it one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.

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In view of the current Wall Street crisis, America’s credibility as a bastion of free markets has come under the radar. The Fed’s recent bailout of AIG, Fannie and Freddie are perceived by many as a free market detour.

The government’s latest bailout news involves a plan to make the biggest intervention in the financial markets since the 1930s. Central to this plan would be a mechanism to bad assets off the balance sheets of financial companies or instead perhaps to create a federal insurance for investors in the money market funds. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to propose a temporary ban on short selling financial stocks.

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