From the Economist, I believe:
Pedaling Prosperity Propaganda: Rhetoric of Depression?
David Roskoph
The propaganda that the subprime debacle is not enough to derail an otherwise healthy economy fades into the distance when we see all the kings’ men, the Treasury, the Office of the President and the Federal Reserve banding together. Somehow this simple “crisis of confidence” has manifested so much momentum that our largest investment banks have to offer loan-shark deals, to hard capital sovereign countries, just to stay in business. The economy is sound they all say, it’s only a flesh wound – keep buying.
The embarrassment is that the (government sponsored) American citizens’ mandate seems to be to consume, regardless of increasing debt levels or ability to pay. Businesses have grown to believe that expanding credit will always get them through tough times. Their new game plan is to offset all the bad credit by loading up the more creditworthy to carry the load; in much the same way Citi diluted its junk. I have personally received hundreds of dollars JUST to keep lines of credit open and/or float any credit balance at zero interest till the end of 2008. This is a sign of desperate times and a failed paradigm.
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