Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Clive Crook: Four fixes for America’s fiscal fiasco
The US economy’s perilous condition calls for extreme fiscal activism. The new administration’s stimulus plans are by no means over the top. If anything, a fiscal injection of $800bn (€602bn, £543bn) over two years is too modest.
Maverecon: Time to take the banks into full ownership
Willem Buiter says looking ahead it seems likely that all British high street banks, RBS, HBOS, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and HSBC will end up in (temporary) public ownership within the next year or so.
Wolfgang Münchau: ‘What if’ becomes the default question
What if one of the member states of the eurozone were to default on its debt? On the occasion of the euro’s 10th birthday, this has become the most frequently asked question about the single currency zone.
Former president of Taiwan writes on China
Chen Shui-bian, in detention on charges that his family embezzled state funds and accepted bribes during his term in office, writes in his new book that once Taiwan ceases to be a country, once the ROC ceases to be a country, how can we enjoy a life of luxury as slaves?
Lex on the bailouts
The reality, however, is that this incremental approach is stalling and that with every lurch, the US and UK are heading down the road marked “full nationalisation”.
Editorial Comment: A second front for beating the crisis
When the banks were recapitalised in October, it seemed that governments had at last moved ahead of the credit crisis. But it has recently become clear, as fourth-quarter results seep out, that the financial system was more damaged than had been realised.
BBVA’s Francisco González discusses regulatory failings
The chairman of Spanish bank BBVA calls for a single European financial regulator to manage the risks of cross-border banking.