Originally Posted By: Dogfish
They will be buying this so-called bad paper at a discount with their partners, then they will work out the underlying loans.


So Dogfish, you seem the most banking-savvy bloke here -- who sets the discount on these purchases? How is a "fair" value established? I heard anecdotally that Paulson was trying to set a relatively high purchase price to help the institutions from going belly up.. At .30 on a dollar, it's a great deal. At .80 on the dollar we're getting raped. Who decides?


I'd also like to propose the "Irish Rogue" amendment to this all (future?) bailouts. For every $100M of bailouts we taxpayers fund, someone GOES TO PRISON FOR LIFE. The shareholders of the bailed-out company, minus employees/executives, get to vote for the person who does the duck-walk. This would instantly make the bailouts more appealing to the public, because people would be HELD ACCOUNTABLE for this mess.
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The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. -John Buchan