February 18th, 2008
Britain will nationalize failing bank Northern Rock
Prime Minister Brown — former chancellor of the exchequer — gets behind the idea of nationalizing Northern Rock, the bank that fell to the crisis triggered by failing U.S. mortgage bonds.
US Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke was rather doomstruck when speaking before the House this past week. While the largest mortgage company, Countrywide, reported that mortgagte defaults and foreclosures continued to accelerate in January.
If trends continue, we may soon see runs on American banks. (As we saw with Northern Rock last year.)
The American mind has been so brainwashed with Reaganism these past decades that nationalizing a bad bank seems scarcely conceivable on the Tube. Dumb and Dumber.
