Direttamente dagli USA!

[nicluz]

A chi interessa, il discorso di Paulson - Bernanke:

http://www.bloomberg.com/avp/avp.htm?clipSRC=LiveBTV#

Praticamente,il sunto è: "Ok, da un paio di anni vi dicevo che tutto era sotto controllo, ma evidentemente mi sbagliavo a dir poco alla grande. Adesso, però, c'è solo una possibilità. E è quella che dico io. Per evitare il macello dovete fare SUBITO, IMMEDIATAMENTE quello che dico io,altrimenti salta tutto. Dovete metterci soldi e darmi poteri speciali assoluti ed ingiudicabili da parte di nessun organo di terze parti".
Azz!
E che è, il re del mondo?????

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Bernanke Tells Congress U.S. Economy Will Contract If Bailout Isn't Passed
Bernanke Says Markets Must Return to Normal or Growth Will Halt
By Scott Lanman and Craig Torres


Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy will shrink if markets don't begin functioning normally, joining Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in urging skeptical lawmakers to quickly pass a $700 billion rescue for financial institutions.
``I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, the unemployment rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover,'' Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee today. ``My interest is solely for the strength and recovery of the U.S. economy.''
Lawmakers have balked at rubber-stamping the Treasury plan to remove illiquid assets from the banking system, with Democrats demanding it support homeowners and limit executive pay, and Republicans resisting the plan's reach and size.
Bernanke, putting aside his prepared remarks released earlier today, said the Treasury should buy illiquid assets at ``hold-to-maturity'' values rather than at discounted ``fire- sale'' prices. The suspension of ``mark-to-market'' accounting for assets, a change backed by ``many banks,'' would instead hurt investor confidence.
The comments are the first indication by both Bernanke and Paulson about the price Treasury is willing to pay financial institutions for toxic assets.
The Fed and Treasury chiefs are trying to sway lawmakers such as Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, who said his constituents hold a ``universally negative'' opinion toward the proposal. Senator Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican, said the plan would ``take Wall Street's pain and spread it to the taxpayers.''
Federal Intrusion
Bernanke pushed for the biggest federal intrusion into markets since the New Deal after failing to stem the credit crisis by cutting the benchmark interest rate at the most aggressive pace in two decades. The Fed has also pumped billions of dollars into banks to try and restore liquidity, and invoked extraordinary powers to loan to securities firms.
``In light of the fast-moving developments in financial markets, it is essential to deal with the crisis at hand,'' Bernanke said. ``The Federal Reserve supports the Treasury's proposal to buy illiquid assets from financial institutions.''
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, also appeared before the committee.
``Bernanke is telling Congress they need to take action quickly,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a former senior economist for the banking committee. ``He is concerned that if this stays in limbo for a long period, the markets will say Congress is not serious and is not addressing the problem.''
`Decisive Action'
Paulson said that ``we must now take further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address the root cause of this turmoil.''
Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said a bailout should follow three principles: protection of taxpayers; proper oversight, transparency and accountability; and aid to homeowners to stem foreclosures. Blame for the crisis lies with ``private greed and public regulatory neglect,'' he said.
Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the panel's senior Republican, said Congress probably can't ``solve this crisis by spending a massive amount of money on bad securities.'' He called for ``a comprehensive and workable plan for resolving this crisis before we waste $700 billion of taxpayer money.''
Bernanke said, in order to avoid disrupting markets, the Treasury shouldn't buy assets at a deep discount.
`Good Information'
``I believe that under the Treasury program, auctions and other mechanisms could be designed that will give the market good information on what the hold-to-maturity price is for a large class of mortgage-related assets,'' he said. ``There are ``substantial benefits'' to buying assets at a cost close to the ``hold-to-maturity'' price, he said.
The decision by the Treasury this month to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into federal conservatorship was ``necessary and appropriate,'' Bernanke said in a review of government interventions in financial markets this month.
Central bankers looked for private-sector solutions to avoid the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and a potential failure of American International Group Inc., he said. The Fed chairman said a collapse of AIG would have ``severely threatened global financial stability'' and U.S. growth.
`Significant Costs'
The Fed Board authorized the New York Fed this month to lend up to $85 billion to help AIG pay its creditors. The Fed ensured the loan involved ``significant costs'' to the firm to avoid the perception the central bank would continue bailouts.
Lehman Brothers also ``posed risks,'' Bernanke said. ``But the troubles at Lehman had been well known for some time'' and Fed officials judged that investors and counterparties ``had time to take precautionary measures.''
Still, Lehman's bankruptcy and AIG's troubles contributed to the ``extraordinarily turbulent conditions in financial markets,'' Bernanke said.
Investor concern that the Paulson rescue would inflate the U.S. budget deficit pushed the dollar down 2.3 percent yesterday in the biggest decline since creation of the euro in 1999. U.S. stocks and bonds also fell before recovering today.
The dollar strengthened to $1.4730 per euro from $1.4774 at 10:42 a.m. in New York.
U.S. economic growth may slow to 1.7 percent this year and 1.5 percent next year, the slowest since the last recession in 2001 and its aftermath in 2002, according to the median of 80 economist forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.