The Government’s Actions Are Making the Financial Crisis Worse

• The bailouts are causing HIGHER mortgage rates for consumers

• The government’s commercial paper buying spree is INCREASING the cost of borrowing

• Arbitrary interventions by the government (AIG rescued, Lehman left to fail) create chaos in the markets. Other than some brief exceptions, the stock market has steadily plunged since the bailout bill was signed. Indeed, every time Paulson, Bernanke or Bush speak, the stock market tanks.

• They also undermine consumer confidence. For example, consumer confidence is now at an “all-time low”, due partly to “increasing uncertainty about the government’s rescue plan“.

• The bailouts are drastically increasing America’s debt and causing other problems

• The bailouts may actually being INCREASING libor (and see this)

• The bailouts may cause unintended problems for money markets

…economists at UCLA have concluded that some of FDR’s policies extended the length of the Great Depression by 7 years.