Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Vi er all Svensk nu!*

The Financial Times.com is reporting this morning that the Obama/Geithner “Swedish model” bailout plan for the banking industry is gaining support among congressional republicans. I didn’t have a chance to read the final stimulus bill, but were Swedish models part of it? Sweet! I think I’m going to like this socialism thing – when do I get mine?

We live in truly interesting times when republicans refuse to dismiss nationalization outright. But as we’ve seen with the auto industry, infusing the patient with fresh blood while he continues to bleed out the side isn’t necessarily the best medicine. We need to stop the bleeding.

Call it what you want – nationalization, pre-privatization, or reorganization, the end result all needs to be the same. The feds need to get in, clean it up, and get out as soon as the industry stabilizes. This may prove to be a tough task for an administration convinced that government has all of the solutions.


* roughly translated: We are all Swedes now!

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