Friday, October 10, 2008

Stock Holiday?

What should the government have done? Not formed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the first place, thus separating the mortgage brokers from the mortgage owners. Then, they shouldn't have offered to bail out anyone. Had they told them and AIG and others that they were on their own, this all would have been over the first week. Instead, we're in the third week of a selloff of stocks around the world. Exacerbated, of course, by the government offering to do more and more.

What should the government do now? The stock market is in a panic. The one good thing FDR did was have a bank holiday so people could calm down and not keep pulling money out of the banks. Perhaps a short stock holiday? Hard to coordinate, as it would likely have to be done globally, but people need to calm down. Next, the government should all go home. All of Washington. Please, shut down, go home, and leave us alone. You've done quite enough, thank you. Please, all of you, go away until the new government is elected and sworn in.

No comments: