Reader Comments

THE MONEY MESS
Response to “How to Wreck the Economy,” Oct. 3:

This is an excellent analysis that only left out one factor that changed things in November 2007. The move to Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 157 (FASB 157) caused an already tightening market to assess market prices for illiquid assets simultaneously, and gave no value to assets that were income producing — such as mortgage backed securities treating them solely for sale value. This move to commoditize everything for trading has been the main problem. These derivative products have been behind all our problems, even high oil prices. I would outlaw their use in the United States rather than regulate them.
—Jim

THIS BAILOUT IS A SELLOUT Response to “The Road to Recovery,” Oct. 3:

Does the government have the will to even consider alternatives other than financing the crooks on Wall Street? The sad part about the financial mess that we are in is that the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain can’t seem to come up with other alternatives other than bailing out the ones that got us in this mess in the first place.
—Jeffy

TENANTS SAVED
Response to “Wall Street Bailout May Hammer Tenants,” Oct. 3:

In a victory for rent regulated tenants, the bailout bill that passed the U.S. House and Senate, which was signed by the President, guarantees that all subsidies and rent protections will remain in place when the Federal Government intervenes. This provision trumps RTC v. Diamond, by eliminating the danger that New York’s rent regulation laws would be preempted in buildings where the U.S. Treasury buys the debt.
—Edmund Rosner