'Nationalizing' America's Banks: Rumors and Realities

Making News

Obama to Address Congress ()

President Obama will address a joint session of Congress tonight. White House advisors say he'll be like a doctor telling a patient that, even though the illness is bad, there is medication, though it won't take effect right away. Christine Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, used another metaphor, liking the economy to supertankers that “don't turn on a dime.” David Lightman is White House Correspondent for the McClatchy Newspapers.

Guests:

• David Lightman: White House Correspondent, McClatchy Newspapers, @LightmanDavid

Main Topic

'Nationalizing' America's Banks: Rumors and Realities ()

Talk of "nationalizing" America's biggest banks, like Citigroup or Bank of America, has frightened investors and caused bank stocks to decline. The Obama Administration insists the banking system will remain private, but yesterday took steps that could lead to government ownership of troubled institutions. Would that mean government management or temporary control until private capital could be raised?  Could it turn into a boondoggle? If it didn't work, would taxpayers be on the hook? We get some answers.

Guests:

• Binyamin Appelbaum: National Banking Reporter, Washington Post, @BCAppelbaum
• Yves Smith: financial consultant and blogger
• Thomas Ferguson: Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts
• Gerald O’Driscoll: former Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Links:

• Obama on the deficit
• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony
• Appelbaum's article on Obama's plan for the banking industry
• Ferguson's article on nationalizing banks
• Ferguson's book, 'Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems'

Reporter's Notebook

Global Warming and Trapped Methane in the Melting Arctic ()

Evidence of global warming is most dramatic in the polar regions, where melting permafrost threatens polar bears and emperor penguins with extinction. Near the Arctic Circle, researchers are finding evidence of a different kind, huge pockets of methane, a major contributor to global warming 11,000 years ago with 20 times the heat-trapping effect of carbon dioxide. That's according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The writer, Margot Roosevelt, explains out what that could mean.

Guests:

• Margot Roosevelt: Reporter, Los Angeles Times