LyrArc Article Gist
Reinhart is saying something similiar to what Krugman said earlier, and Peter Eavis said in the Heard on the Street column on March 24, 2009. The Geithner plan is similiar to the Paulson plan. It is trying to get private investors to buy up toxic assets by offering incentives. But the pricing issue like before is left vague and unanswered. And its success looks increasingly doubtful as the is not only the problem of confidence and illiquidity that these plans are confronting, but something more structural and basic about how much these toxic assets are worh and whether it makes sense to bid for them and at what price so that ooooooone is protected on the downside. Reinhart points out that the stress tests are also there, and it may just be that the government is waiting for public support to build for taking on the losses involved in getting rid of toxic assets, and is right now going the longer circuitous route. At some point the government may decide the time is right to sort out the banking institutions finances through the stress tests, make the tough decisions for banks that are not healthy by government takeover, and deal with the toxic assets as owner of these failed banks.