henry paulson

Paulson reportedly gave advance word about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

ANDREW COYNE: How the seven richest nations went all in on a plan that brought the global economy back from the brink

Why the Wall Street bailout—if it ever comes—won’t save America’s economy or ours

My favourite line from the proposed US$700 billion lifeline to Wall Street:

I’ll be writing a lot more about this in the upcoming issue, but at the risk of getting ahead of myself, I have to express my sadness at the goings on south of the border right now. The U.S. government is in the process of negotiating a bailout plan which will likely come in at close to double the cost of the Iraq war so far. We are told that this is regrettable but necessary in order to prevent worldwide financial Armageddon.

Last night’s shocking bail out of AIG hasn’t done much to calm the fears roiling through the markets this morning. It has, however, got me to thinking.

I am stunned, STUNNED at the news that the U.S. Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury have kicked in US$85 billion to bail out AIG.