The Scent of Fear

William Greider writes:

For the first time in this unfolding financial crisis, I felt personally scared by the news. Not about my money, but about the potential for catastrophe. The Federal Reserve's lightning rescue of AIG has the smell of systemic fear. The house of global finance is on fire and everyone is running for the exits, no sure way to turn them around. What's next? The question itself is ominous, because there are no good answers.

The rest is here. I've heard Greider speak. He's neither a bomb thrower nor a polemicist. He's a thoughtful, low-keyed man not given to alarmist pronouncements. If he's scared, the rest of us might want to take heed...

John McCain is simply not up to this challenge. He's too hidebound and too invested in a discredited approach to the economy. What has he proposed? Forming a commission and firing Christopher Cox evade the issue, which is that the problem arises from a systemic and wrong redefinition of the financial markets that has privatized profit and socialized risk. And John McCain committed to this with one vote after another. 

Obama needs to say more and soon, but at least he’s on the right track by calling for a return to regulation and taxpayer protection. The time is ripe for him to make a major speech about the economy replete with detailed proposals of what he will do as president. I would make it apolitical, other than “inviting” his opponent to do the same.