Last night I was able to take part in one of the things that make Delaware a wonderful place to live. I got to spend a few minutes having a one-on-one conversation with Michael Castle (He of the House Financial Services Committee) on the subject of a huge corporate bailout with a 1 liter beer in my hand. I spent about 5 minutes discussing the AIG/Bear Stearns/Sub-Prime debt bailouts.
He believes that we will get some of this money back, which is different from GWB today that said we would get most of the money back. He did not have much info on the bailout that is being developed as I write this, although I think he probably should be more involved in the issue, and thus know more about it.
One of the people that he was most critical of was Hank Paulson and his poor communication. He said “Ya know, he comes in and talks to us and we just don’t understand what he’s talking about.” This could be because Paulson is purposely keeping these guys in a state of confusion, like Ken Lay used to do at Enron. Or is it that the instruments that make this economy hum has surpassed the ability of our leaders to grok it?
If there is something else to be taken out of my conversation, it is that this is still a gamble. We don’t know if this will work. We don’t know whether or not the next 2 weeks will completely crush the effects of these bailouts. We just don’t have all of the information or a model for the steps we are taking. It’s a bet.
The good news is, beer helps.