Not long ago it seemed a given that the Obama bank rescue plan would be on the ‘bad bank’ model — i.e., you and I as taxpayers create what might more aptly be called a ‘suicide bank’ where you go to all the other banks and buy their poor investments at prices those banks wish they were still worth. Then, when that just seemed too silly it was going to be a plan to insure the banks against excessive loses on these bad investments. Sort of the slo-mo version of the bad bank. But CNBC is now reporting that the ‘bad bank’ is out. And they add these details …
The Obama administration’s wide-ranging plan to stabilize the financial system no longer includes creating a “bad bank” but will still contain measures to buy up toxic assets from financial institutions, according to a source familiar with the plan.
In addition, funding for the bank-rescue plan is unlikely to exceed the $350 billion currently available under the TARP, this source said.
So the ‘bad bank’ is out. There’s some vague talk of buying back ‘toxic debts’. But if I’m reading that right they’re not going to be asking for any more money.
As the same source tells CNBC, “They have to have enough to calm the markets, but there might not be as many details as previously thought.” I’d say that’s an understatement.
Obviously, we’ll know more details tomorrow with Geithner’s speech (or maybe not). And I’ll be very curious to see what others make of this. But this sure sounds to me like they’ve decided to punt. No big new plan. And no more money.
I wonder if what’s happening here is that they realize that none of these TARP-like workarounds are going to work. So no point asking for a politically and perhaps fiscally debilitating amount of money on something they’ll have to abandon in six months. But they also don’t have their ducks in a row yet, or haven’t come to grips yet, with something more like the Swedish model — which is to say, letting failed banks actually fail, government takes them over like has been happening to little banks, government runs the bank for a while and then sells it to private investors. Regardless, at least from CNBC’s discussion it looks like a big punt.
