Argument: $700b bailout is generally well designed to solve US economic crisis

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Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association – To date, Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke have made some incredibly smart and tough decisions, but it is becoming clear that our markets need a comprehensive approach to address the current conditions. Today Secretary Paulson laid out such an approach and it is bold and very necessary. We are encouraged by Congress’ early reception to this plan and hope it will move with haste to approve it.[1]

The sophisticated interconnectivity of institutional market participants, individual investors, small businesses and pension funds – both large and small – reflects the broad range of Americans who have a great deal at stake in this debate. If the market conditions that have paralyzed the credit markets are allowed to continue and become exacerbated by inaction, every American‘s economic well-being could be at risk. The recovery plan, in its most general sense, offers an opportunity to return to an orderly market while assuring maximum protection for taxpayers and a path to divestiture of private funds purchased by the public facility. While we understand the details of the proposal are complex, we encourage Members of Congress to enact a bill based on the Treasury proposal as soon as possible.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. – the situation we had, where markets are frozen and lending may not be available, is one that won’t be good for the American people. And the way to protect the American people is to come in and stabilize the system by purchasing these illiquid assets from the banks.[2]

George Soros, Investor and Philanthropist – Now that the crisis has been unleashed a large-scale rescue package is probably indispensable to bring it under control.

Rebuilding the depleted balance sheets of the banking system is the right way to go. Not every bank deserves to be saved, but the experts at the Federal Reserve, with proper supervision, can be counted on to make the right judgments.[3]