Welcome to Your Bailout, Comrades
Every morning on the El, I like to glance around and see what other people and reading. I’m just curious that way. To my amazement, Dreams From My Father has lately been supplanted by a whole lotta Wall Street Journal. God, I think to myself, how boring is this? But I have to say it’s gotten to the point where the old hidebound Journal is actually becoming interesting, even to me (gasp!).
Today, for example, no less a personage than Mr. Ben Bernake wrote a column in the Opinions section of WSJ today and it is here.
I shamelessly read it over my seat neighbor’s shoulder and let me tell you it was a real knee-slapper. In case you missed it, good old Ben, the chair of that Mother of all Banks, the Federal Reserve, tells us that banks are doing just fine now, thanks, and the bailout came just in the nick of time, in case anyone for some crazy reason might have been fretting their silly head about that. In fact my favorite part was this statement:
“History teaches us that government engagement in times of severe financial crisis often arrives very late, usually at a point at which most financial institutions are insolvent or nearly so. In these conditions, the consequences and costs of inertia and inaction can be staggering. Fortunately, that is not the situation we face today.”
Um, yeah, you can say that again. If our government bought shares in the primary financial institutions that are (to hear Ben and his buddies tell it) holding up the entire global economy, doesn’t that kinda sorta mean the government now controls our banking system? Forgive me if I misunderstand because hey I’m a liberal arts major, ok? But what does this article say to you? And I quote:
“Band of Brothers:The U.S. is set to buy preferred equity stakes in several top financial institutions as part of a broad effort to bolster the banking system. Not all of the banks involved are happy with the move, but agreed under pressure from the government. All told, the moves tie the banking sector to the federal government for years to come.”
So welcome to your bailout, Comrades. Not to be too glum, but while you still have a choice in your housing options, here are a few goodies in Uptown:
935 W LELAND Ave #1W CHICAGO, IL 60640
Price: $369,900
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 2.1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 2,400 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $154 |
4848 N ASHLAND Ave CHICAGO, IL 60640 Price: $390,000
| Beds: | 4 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,800 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $217 |
1630 W WINONA St CHICAGO, IL 60640
Price: $579,900
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 2.1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 2,300 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $252 |
