I would like to hear from ladyjayhawk, manning, etc. and those who say insurance will work, exactly how insurance will work. Frankly, insurance, repealling the capital gains tax, and reducing taxes on comapnies doing business overseas is not likely addressing the problem. This is the republican plan.
The problem is liquidity. Banks and other financial institutions have held onto mortgage and other backed security, and have attempted to sell it. They cannot sell it. The prices have fallen like a rock. As a result, they are holding onto cash, instead of loaning it between themselves, and to companies, because of the drain placed on them because of the markets failure to absorb the securities. Thus, the fact that the securities cannot be sold causes the available funds of the institutions to dry up. As a result of there being no liquidity in the credit market, things like car loans, mortgage credit and business credit (including lines of credit, commercial papers, etc.) dry up. This means that your paycheck might not be good because of the line that funds it is not being honored. Anyone else heard that Paychex may have difficulty meeting their customers' pay check requirements because of the commercial paper market. Anybody heard the McDonalds franchises are out of luck for upgraded equipment on credit?
Banks lend funds to each other every day. Every day, based upon the banks books, they either buy or sell funds for the day to match what their numbers are. In the negative, borrow. In the positive, sell. Howevere, because the daily market dried up because of the amount of borrowing needed, and 2, the fact that banks have decided to keep it for themselves in stead of lending it out, because they know when they need to borrow the funds, they wont be there, there is no avenue to jump start this liquidity crises than to infuse capital. The 700b would have infused capital by purchasing these loan assets, which would take them out of the credit market, and thus free up the capital that had been stymied by them. It works, if, the institutions then turn around and begin the loan process based upon the new liquidity. The foreign investors also need to look at the process and decide to become involved again as well.
It does not work if the loans are not made after the infusion. When the creidt market dries up, things grind to a halt. Homes, autos and big ticket items are not sold. People loose their jobs, which causes additional big ticket items not to be sold, etc. It spirals down. The way the county got itself out of the depression, spending--infusion of capital both on the corporate side as well as the individual side. The way it got itself out of recessuion in 1980, spending, from the top down--infusion of capital. This is the same theory, although the mechanism is different.
So, how does insurance put liquidity back? It does not. In fact, it does the opposite, it saps liquidity. It seves the wall street bottom line in the long run. It does nothing for main street. It does not pass on liquidity past wall street. Any wonder it was proposed by republicans who also wanted to repeal capital gains tax, and increase tax cuts to companies with foreign footprints. Nothing to help the crisis as it now exists.
Please tell me how insurance is going to solve this problem. Please tell me how insurance is going to allow institutions to lend money, which in turn will fuel the economy.
No, really, I want to hear the reasoning behind it, besides "we shouldnt spend 700b".