Automobile-finance companies pushed hard to get in on the government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan. Now, with the industry’s troubles expected to deepen, they are exploring further moves, including help from the Federal Reserve.
The plan outlined by the U.S. central bank Tuesday to effectively lend to companies to fund day-to-day operations will likely not include [...]

As lawmakers appeared to reach a tentative deal on a Treasury rescue proposal for troubled assets, Steve Quinn, associate professor of economics at Texas Christian University in guest post for Real Time Economics, looks back at Britain’s experience in the 18th century to offer an alternative plan.
The current financial crisis began with the idea that [...]

Bernanke

Congress just put a $700 billion hot potato back on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s lap, and without the tool the Fed had sought to make its job easier: the ability to pay interest on bank reserves.

That could leave the Fed with little choice but to eventually lower interest rates again to keep the economy [...]

A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
Economist Debate: The Economist is hosting a debate on how best to re-regulate the system after the credit crisis. The participants are Myron Scholes advocating a light touch, and Joseph Stiglitz arguing for stronger regulation. Scholes writes: There is now a rising chorus among regulators, politicians and [...]

As lawmakers appeared to reach a tentative deal on a Treasury rescue proposal for troubled assets, Steve Quinn, associate professor of economics at Texas Christian University in guest post for Real Time Economics, looks back at Britain’s experience in the 18th century to offer an alternative plan.
The current financial crisis began with the idea that [...]

Last week, Damien Hirst sold more than $200 million of pickled animals and splatter paintings in London. A unnamed buyer recently paid $28.5 million for a vintage Ferrari 250 GTO in a private sale, according to knowledgeable chatter on FerrariChat. A single bottle of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée Conti 1962 fetched $13,310 (against an [...]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson said he and his Group of Seven counterparts had agreed to an “aggressive” plan to deal with a financial turmoil that has quickly ballooned into a “global event.” While the U.S. has come up with its own bank rescue plan, Paulson said other countries are considering options appropriate to their own [...]