February 27, 2009

Blog: Professor of Economics urges bank nationalization

As the nation’s economic crisis deepens and each day seems to bring another crop of data and analysis, finding reliable sources for information can feel overwhelming.

As the nation’s economic crisis deepens and each day seems to bring another crop of data and analysis, finding reliable sources for information can feel overwhelming. For the past several months, Professor of Economics Martin Hart-Landsberg, director of Lewis & Clark’s Political Economy program, has been sifting through reports and analyses that have emerged from countless sources and he is now offering his insights in plain English on his blog, “Reports from the Economic Front.”

In the most recent blog post, Hart-Landsberg weighs in on the debate over nationalizing U.S. banks:

“Most analysts believe, and I see no reason to disagree, that several of our major money center banks–like Citi Bank and Bank of America–are now technically bankrupt […] Unwilling to declare these banks bankrupt, the government has been pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into them—but with little to show for it […] If we keep this up, their death spiral will drag us all down.  So—there is only one real answer—nationalize the banks that are technically bankrupt.  If we take them over we can actually figure out how bad the mess is, and develop a plan to deal with it.  We can ensure that the new managers we put in are paid a reasonable rather than exorbitant salary, and most importantly we can direct the banks to start making the loans that are needed to support the stimulus plan and get the economy going.”

Continue to read this post or explore other posts at “Reports from the Economic Front.”