- Robert J. Aumann, the Israeli economist who won the 2005 Nobel Prize in economics, said the steps taken by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to save financial markets "weren't smart".
"The intervention by the regulators to save the U.S. economy will lead to further bankruptcies of banks and insurance companies," Aumann said at a rabbinical conference in Jerusalem yesterday. "They are only encouraging institutions to take more uncalculated risks".
The crisis in the financial markets was caused by the incentives provided to managers of banks and other financial institutions that caused them to act to their own benefit and not the banks', he said. Bonuses were given on the basis of loan sales, without considering who the borrowers were, he said.
More than 100 of the world's biggest banks and securities firms have posted about $685.4 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses because of the financial turmoil. A month ago, Congress approved a $700 billion rescue package that gave the Treasury wide authority to buy and guarantee assets to prevent a U.S. financial collapse.
Aumann, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on game theory, said there is "no financial crisis" in Israel. The Israeli government's decision not to intervene in the financial markets was correct, he said.
- The U.S. authorities bought into market fundamentalist ideology. They thought that the markets would ultimately correct themselves. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson epitomized this. He thought that six months after the Bear Stearns crisis the market would have adjusted and, "Well, if Lehman (Brothers) goes bust, the system can take it." Instead, everything fell apart.
Since they did not understand the nature of the problem -- that the market would not correct itself -- they did not see the need for government intervention. They did not prepare a Plan B.
As the shock of the Lehman failure set in, he had to change his mind and rescue AIG. The next day there was a run on the money markets and commercial paper markets, so he turned around again and said we need a $700 billion bailout. But he wanted to put the money in the wrong place -- taking the toxic securities out of the hands of the banks.
They have finally now come around -- with the government buying equity in banks -- because they see the financial system is on the verge of collapse. - October 12, 2008 (George Soros: End of Financial Crisis could be in Sight)
Related Posts :
- George Soros: crisis underscores need for regulation
- George Soros: End of Financial Crisis could be in Sight
- Bloomberg: Nobel Winner Aumann Says Bernanke, Paulson Steps `Not Smart' , November 2, 2008 11:19 EST
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