Free Republic

October 7, 2008 Doctors must stop squabbling over the patient Gerard Baker: American view An experienced and very senior figure in global central banking, someone not given to alarmist observations about the customarily prosaic business of his profession, described the state of the world's financial system to me over the weekend as like that of a patient who has experienced multiple organ failure. The market for securitised assets collapsed some time ago. The interbank lending market is flatlining. The commercial paper market is shutting down. The world is in danger of losing the financial equivalent of its circulatory, respiratory and...

Blocked pipes Oct 2nd 2008 | LONDON AND NEW YORK From The Economist print edition When banks find it hard to borrow, so do the rest of us Illustration by David Simonds ANY good tradesman will tell you the importance of the bits of a house that you cannot see. Never mind the new kitchen: what about the rafters, the wiring and the pipes? So it is with financial markets. The stockmarkets are the most visible: as they soar or swoon, the headline-writers get to work. The money markets, however, are the plumbing of the system. Normally, they function efficiently...