Bankrupt banks

John Updike


One of my favorite authors has died; John Updike was taken by lung cancer on January 27. No other novelist handled tricky plot situations as well as he. He was an outstanding spokesman for the real middle-class America.
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I may try to watch the Souper Bowl this evening, but I have no connections to either team. I wish Carolyn had called Sonny at The Cottage and got her numbers from the $1k board, but she—along with most other women I've known—likes surprises.
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I want to try and go for some photo shooting today; I haven't been out to purposefully make photos since Jan. 4. Today's weather is supposed to be at least tolerable with sunshine and mild temps. Either Greenevile or back to Wilbur is on our minds.
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I read the following in Robert Reich's January 28 blog:

"Back in the banking crisis of 1907, J.P. Morgan got all the major
bankers into one room and forced a kind of reorganization on all of
them. We need the same today -- a giant reorganization of the banks, in
which their shareholders lose what little value they have left, their
creditors get paid 20 cents or so on the dollar, and their assets are
written down to about 20 percent of their face value. In effect, it's
an industry-wide reorganization under bankruptcy. This way, bank
balance sheets are cleared up, there's no run on any one bank, everyone
starts anew, and taxpayers aren't left holding the bag."

You should read the entire article to see what Mr. Reich is getting at.

The biggest fault I can see with this scenario working in present day America is that the banking industry is so huge and intertwined in the lives of every citizen from the day he is born until the day he dies. Back in 1907, Joe Average did not have a bank account along with an unreasonable mortgage and and other loans. Banking then was mainly for businesses, the wealthy, and the upper middle-class, but today it relies heavily on the private homeowner and car buyer. It has become too greedy to admit or accept defeat; it cannot fathom the possibility of banks doing the same thing they have forced so many of their customers to do and that is declare bankruptcy. Knowing our government, another failure of a bailout is probably in order.
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I am changing the last part of my new story, so it will be awhile before I publish it on the writing blog. I know you are on pins and needles.
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