From AP:
With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush who quickly signed it....
[T[he Dow Jones industrials, up more than 200 points at the time of the House vote, ended the day down 157.
The final vote, 263-171 in the House, capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act. There were 58 more votes for the measure than an earlier version that failed on Monday.
Krugman asks, "Has the bailout already failed?":
OK, I know that’s premature. And I place no weight at all on the fact that the Dow plunged after the vote.
But it is interesting that short-term Treasury yields are down — only 0.13% on one-month — suggesting that the flight to safety continues unabated. Against this, John Jansen reports some signs that money markets are unfreezing, slightly.
We’ll learn more next week. But I have a prediction: well before January 20, Congress will be asked to vote on bailout 2.0.
