Financial crisis, on and on

The financial panic continues around the world.  Asian markets are tanking at this moment, once again.  The Dow keeps going lower and lower. At this point I think you will need to get the US government to offer something close to nationalization to whoever wants it (and probably something similar in other markets, both major and minor, around the world) with directives to continue to provide credit, especially to smaller and medium sized enterprises.  And to those banks who need it, but whose heads are worried about the conditions, too bad.  The scary thing is how the government provides better oversight to these banks as a part-owner than it did as a regulator. But I don't think much else will stop the steady bleeding (you can't even argue that it is slow) at this point.

Good timing for the G7 meeting and IMF-World Bank meetings.  This might be a chance for this institutions to prove they deserve to continue to exist. 

Some interesting (if depressing reads):

-- wild man Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, arguing that the US is a banana republic, with socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.  As a resident of DC, this has been obvious for quite a while.

-- pessimist but really smart Nouriel Roubini: "The world is at severe risk of a global systemic financial meltdown and a severe global depression."  His RGE Monitor (even just the free stuff on it) is a great resource for anyone interested in the international financial world.

I'll find more later ....