“There will be one sure group of winners in the aftermath of the government’s ‘stress testing’ of 19 major U.S. banks: The investors who own the banks’ bonds. That fact won’t be lost on Chrysler’s dissident debtholders — the ones who balked at the Obama administration’s restructuring offer for the company last week, only to be labeled as villains. Debt holders of the 19 banks already have been reassured that the administration won’t allow the institutions to fail. If the banks need more capital, and private investors won’t provide it, the government will.” (Los Angeles Times ^[1], Thursday)

Governmment discretion is poison to an economy.

FEE Timely Classic
“Rent-Seeking: A Primer” ^[2] by Sanford Ikeda