The new bailout plan was announced at 11 am:
Make of it what you will. The market isn't the economy–it's a measure of future corporate profits. Evidently, the public is skeptical that the new plan is good for corporate profitability.
But maybe the market was spooked by remarks like this one from Geithner:
“I want to be candid: this comprehensive strategy will cost money, involve risk, and take time,”
he said. “We will have to adapt it as conditions change. We will have
to try things we’ve never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse and progress is uneven or interrupted.”
he said. “We will have to adapt it as conditions change. We will have
to try things we’ve never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse and progress is uneven or interrupted.”
Or this one from Arlen Specter:
I am supporting the economic stimulus package for one simple reason: The country cannot afford not to take action.
Good politics requires action, constant proof that the politician is working tirelessly.
Good economics requires quiet consistency so people can plan for the future.
The times we live in are the greatest example in my lifetime of the tension between these two goals.
