Who buys this stuff?

My search continues for something substantial to read from an economist in favor of the bailout. On TV, they all appear to favor it (using vague language and lots of clichés), but on the Internet, they all seem to oppose it (with compelling economic arguments).

I thought I may have found it when I ran across a dire quote from Nouriel Roubini in a newspaper, warning of economic woes to come. Then I went to his web site. It turns out Roubini recently wrote an article entitled “Is Purchasing $700 billion of Toxic Assets the Best Way to Recapitalize the Financial System? No! It is Rather a Disgrace and Rip-Off Benefitting only the Shareholders and Unsecured Creditors of Banks”. Heh! It turns out he's just generally gloomy and has been for years; it didn't start after yesterday's vote.

Reporters have done a bad job with this one. There's the usual ignorance of economics, but it's more than that. They seem to be caught up in the crisis atmosphere. They're not objective. Worse, they never seem to distinguish between Wall Street investors and economists, never mind hysteria and reason.

My Representative

I wrote to my Representative, Jim Cooper, and three days ago, he wrote back:

...I hate the thought of paying ransom to Wall Street, especially when Main Street is struggling. I am furious that our financial situation has been allowed to get this point, and that Treasury is considering bailing out the lenders who helped caused this to occur.

Then he voted for the bailout. According to this morning's USA Today, he said, “It's mainly political fear, the reaction back home. It's the most difficult time for people to be statesmen, 37 days before an election.”