Paulson at the Helm of the Titanic
An editor once proposed a picture book titled “They Must Know What They’re Doing or They Wouldn’t Be Where They Are,” featuring the captain of the Titanic, the designer of the Edsel, LBJ running the Vietnam war and other disaster-prone people in high places.
Add Henry Paulson to the list. After pushing Congress into a panic to let him buy toxic mortgage assets, Bush’s Treasury Secretary now says maybe not, announcing the plan is on hold.
At a news conference, Paulson said the $700 billion will be used instead to bolster the financial markets and, in turn, make loans more accessible for creditworthy borrowers:
“During times like these with a slowing economy and some deterioration in credit conditions, even the healthiest banks tend to become more risk-averse and restrain lending, and regulators’ actions have reinforced this lending restraint in the past.”
One Response to “Paulson at the Helm of the Titanic”
The Peter Principle. This is the primary organizing principle of the organizations in charge of trillions of dollars. Does anyone think Paulson is immune? How are his decisions being influenced by his Republican ideology instead of objective weighing of all factors? I doubt we will ever know.