Here is an interesting alternative to yesterday's proposal by the Administration to authorize Treasury to buy up toxic debt from troubled financial institutions. Treasury could be authorized instead to buy stock in troubled financial institutions. Instead of being the buyer of last resort for all of the most toxic debt of unascertainable, but low, value, Treasury would be the investor of last resort at share prices that have been established by the market. The entity would get the same amount of cash infusion either way.
Washington Post columnist Sebastian Mallaby makes the same proposal here, and refers to other experts for support.
Paul Krugman analyzes the problem in cogent 1, 2, 3 style and reaches the same conclusion here. Just a few days ago the official solution to the problem was for troubled financial institutions to raise more equity capital, in other words, to issue stock at current low prices even though that would seriously dilute the existing shareholders. Well, the sovereign wealth funds and other big piles of uncontaminated cash didn't want to buy.
It's making more and more sense to me that if the government is going to inject massive cash into the financial system, it would be better to buy equity (which may be crap) instead of buying mortgage backed securities which have been specially selected and offered for sale precisely because they are 100% percent guaranteed toxic crap. This would punish the shareholders, which of course include you and me, but we don't deserve a taxpayer bailout.
Obama has issued a "statement of principles" about Treasury's bailout proposal, which Brad DeLong has posted here. It appears that Obama is going along with the basic structure of giving troubled institutions good cash for toxic debt.
Incidentally, did you notice that Treasury is calling its proposal "troubled asset relief program?" This big blue TARP is going to be spread over Wall Street, making it look like New Orleans after Katrina.
Ed Paisley of Center for American Progress has a plan here. It's the only plan I've seen illustrated with cartoons. It's also the only plan that limits Treasury to purchasing only complete mortgages (Step 2), which may not address a large part of the problem. I understand that most of the problem mortgages are backing several different securities--some highly rated that are entitled to the first payments from the whole mortgage pool and some low rated that will feel the effects of the first defaults. The CAP plan seems to require that Humpty Dumpty be re-assembled before Treasury can buy. The purpose of this seemingly impractical task is to allow Treasury to re-write the individual mortgages (Step 4) so borrowers with adequate finances and credit can keep their homes--and keep their homes off the market where they will help force prices down more. News reports yesterday indicate that others are approaching this problem by expanding authority of bankruptcy judges to restructure home mortgages.