Retail sales down. Meanwhile, Lehman is in big trouble and looking to put itself up for sale in order to get out of trouble. With, of course, big government stepping in to lend a helping hand:
As confidence in Lehman continued to drain away on Thursday, the bank, one of the oldest names on Wall Street, reached out to several potential buyers, including Bank of America and Barclays, the big British bank, according to people briefed on the negotiations. Lehman hopes to strike a deal within days.
In each case, the suitors are seeking help from the Federal Reserve to help make an acquisition palatable. They want the Fed to guarantee a part of Lehman’s troubled assets, these people said, similar to the way it backstopped the emergency sale of another foundering bank, Bear Stearns, in March.
As I’ve said of previous interventions in the ongoing financial crisis there’s nothing wrong with having the government step in to avert catastrophe. Indeed, letting catastrophe happen merely for the sake of bringing reality closer into line with free market rhetoric would be silly. But by the same token, the same kind of help should be available to families or individuals facing catastrophe and not just investment banks.
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