(This still doesn't mean that an out-of-nowhere $700B taxpayer outlay with no oversight is anywhere near the right solution, but at least the problem is easier to understand.)
The State of California asks the Treasury Dept. for a loan, because the amount of credit they need just isn't available on the open market.
As mentioned in the parenthetical above, I'm still deeply skeptical that the best (or even most direct) solution to a liquidity crunch is for taxpayers to put up some arbitrary chosen value on hard-to-value assets.
Posted by Matt Bruce at October 3, 2008 11:18 AM