I believe I heard my first adult, non-Chicken-Little commentary on the global economic crisis.
Dr. Fred Bergsten, director of the respected Peterson International Institute for Economics appeared on a political analysis television program this Sunday morning saying that there's "no comparison with the Depression...it's NOT the 1930s by any means."
Rather it's a crisis of confidence, pure and simple. What the U.S. government's done so far appears to be ad hoc and not well coordinated with other economic powers. More importantly there's been no calm, clear voice articulating what is being--and will be--done. And of course, given the propensity of some in Washington, D.C. to cry "wolf," the credibility of the inside-the-beltway gang is likely below that of Congress' approval rating, i.e. 10% or the President's--some 20%.
Two sources for Dr. Bergsten's comments:
1. The CBS Sunday morning program: Face The Nation (podcast--he comes on late in the sequence so stay with it if you start at the beginning, though the specific segment is titled: Crisis of Confidence, 4:17 running time; and
2. If you can't wait, or have difficulty getting the particular segment, click here for the transcript of the same program.
Bergsten has been director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics since its creation in 1981. He has been the most, widely quoted think-tank economist in the world over the eight-year period 1997-2005. He was ranked in the top 50 "Who Really Moves the Markets?"by Fidelity Investment's Worth, and as "one of the ten people who can change your life" in USAToday. Bergsten was assistant secretary for international affairs of the U.S. Treasury (1977-81), and his CV goes on.
