[Dialogue] FW: Buy In, Don't Bail Out

Fri Oct 10 07:51:05 EDT 2008

Dear Colleagues, 
This letter and the references below share some more of the complexities of
the
Global financial situation.  We stand present to the meeting of the G8 and
then the 
20 Finance ministers in Washington DC this weekend.

Take care,

Jeanette Stanfield

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Paul Hilder - Avaaz.org" <avaaz at avaaz.org>
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:22:40 -0700
To: "rbstanfi at bigpond.net.au" <rbstanfi at bigpond.net.au>
Subject: Buy In, Don't Bail Out

  Dear friends, 

Over the next 48 hours, the world's leading finance ministers are meeting to
thrash out our response to the financial crisis. Instead of bailing out
reckless financiers again, we need a buy-in that gives us public ownership
and strict new regulations to fix this broken system for good! --

  Put your name here!
<http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue?cl=135894524&amp;v=2269>
Watching the markets freefall, we know this crisis will utterly change our
daily lives -- we're not just spectators any more, and we¹re seeing
something new - people and governments directly intervening in the chaos
that until now was controlled by reckless and greedy financiers.

 Today and all weekend, extraordinary choices will be made by the world¹s
most powerful finance ministers, meeting to decide our response to the
financial crisis. Together, we must make sure that governments don¹t just
use our money to bail out the banks, but claim a share of public ownership
in these institutions for our future, and oversight powers to fundamentally
fix the wider system.

We'll deliver our call for a global buy-in package in 36 hours to G7 finance
ministers  and again to a bigger Global Crisis Summit planned for November
-- please sign the petition at the link below, and forward this email to
everyone you know. The decisions made this week will shape our lives for
years to come: 

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue
<http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue?cl=135894524&amp;v=2269>

Three weeks ago our petition to regulate global finance was waved by
Denmark's former prime minister as the European Parliament voted.[1] Two
weeks ago our US members bombarded Congress with phone calls for a buy-in
not a bailout -- investing in the banks so they stop choking off capital,
while giving the public a share for their money and the power to fix the
system -- and yesterday, as Britain launched a bold buy-in of its own, word
is the United States might finally change course.[2]

Only concerted action by the global community can build a better system, and
we can't leave it to the financiers -- so today, we're launching an
emergency campaign calling on leaders for a global public rescue to save all
our economies. This is what's needed -- a 'buy-in' to financial institutions
not a reckless 'bailout', massive public investment stimulus to stave off
global depression, temporary guarantee of loans/deposits, and strict new
regulations to fix this broken system once and for all.[3] It's a sensible
and public-spirited package supported by progressives and expert economists
alike -- add your name here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue
<http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue?cl=135894524&amp;v=2269>

Leading economists now agree that citizens and our governments are the only
force powerful enough to solve this crisis -- only the public can mobilise
the investment and oversight needed to fix the financiers' failings, get the
economy moving and revive things on a sounder basis. The Great Depression of
the 1930s teaches us that we cannot address this crisis with each acting
alone -- only by acting together can countries head off disaster.

How we respond to this crisis will shape our lives for years to come. We're
still a long way from tackling the fundamental problems of the global
economy, but the tide is moving in our direction. So let's take control of
our future in the interests of people not financiers, and raise a worldwide
voice across borders for a global public rescue. 3.4 million of us in every
nation of the world will get this email -- that's a start. Click below to
sign, forward this email to all your friends and family, and let's raise a
voice our leaders can't ignore:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue
<http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue?cl=135894524&amp;v=2269 >

With hope and determination,

Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Pascal, Veronique, Iain, Brett, Milena and the whole
Avaaz team 

 PS Congratulations to all those who supported our phone and email campaign
on Europe's climate and energy package this week -- it was a stunning
victory, we won 95% of what we wanted and our sources say we made a big
difference. More soon!

 Sources: 

   1. Winning the vote on financial oversight and regulation in the European
Parliament with Denmark's Poul Rasmussen:
 http://www.pes.org/content/view/1401/1700098

Rasmussen's Parliament speech:
 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+200809
22+ITEMS+DOC+XML+V0//EN#creitem19

2. New York Times and NYU economist Paul Krugman on the UK plan and US
shift:
 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/doing-the-right-thing/

"This would essentially be the plan supported by most economists":
 http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/10/ny-times-recapitalization-plan-b
eing.html 

3. 18 leading economists from across the political spectrum and around the
world -- "Rescuing our jobs and savings: what G7/G8 leaders can do":
http://voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/2340

----------

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