Warren Buffett Interviews Henry Paulson on the Collapse of the Global Financial System (2010)

Paulson, acting as U.S. Treasury Secretary, caused outcries from both the Republican and Democratic Parties as well as the general populace as he tried to get the situation under control. More Warren Buffett: https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&tag=tra0c7-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=67076cd3ad86cee17e32b2f0b70ebb16&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=books&keywords=warren%20buffett Through unprecedented intervention by the U.S. Treasury, Paulson led government efforts which he said were aimed at avoiding a severe economic slowdown. After the Dow Jones dropped 30% and turmoil ensued in the global markets, Paulson pushed through legislation authorizing the Treasury to use $700 billion to stabilize the financial system. Working with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, he influenced the decision to create a credit facility (bridge loan and warrants) of US$85 billion to American International Group so it would avoid filing bankruptcy, after having been told that AIG held teacher pension plans, 401k plans, $1.5 trillion in life insurance plans for Americans, and the French Finance Minister called to let Paulson know that AIG held the interests of many Eurozone countries. On September 19, 2008, Paulson called for the U.S. government to use hundreds of billions of Treasury dollars to help financial firms clean up nonperforming mortgages threatening the liquidity of those firms. Because of his leadership and public appearances on this issue, the press labeled these measures the "Paulson financial rescue plan" or simply the Paulson Plan. With the passage of H.R. 1424, Paulson became the manager of the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund. As Treasury Secretary, he also sat on the newly established Financial Stability Oversight Board that oversaw the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Paulson agreed with Bernanke that the only way to unlock the frozen capital markets was to provide direct injections into financial institutions so investors would have confidence in these institutions. The government would take a non-voting share position, with 5% dividends for the first year on the money lent to the banks and 9% thereafter until the banks stabilized and could repay the government loans. According to the book Too Big To Fail, Paulson, Bernanke, New York Federal Reserve Chairman Timothy Geithner, and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair attended the October 13, 2008 meeting on at which this plan was presented to the CEOs of nine major banks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_paulson

Comments

1. Honest taxpayers ended up paying the bill for bailing out the banks. Now it is the turn of savers to pay thanks to the Fed zero interest rates policy. I wonder, who is going to pay the bill and bail out the system the next time?
   
   The debt now is at staggering level. Savers don't have any savings anymore. Taxpayers are taxed as much as it is conceivable. Government has 20 trillion of debt. Yes. None is going to bail out the debtors the next time. The system will collapse.
2. greedy fucking .wankers !!! they should all been in bloody prison .I don't feel sorry for any of these disgusting people .only the good people worked hard all there lives .lost the lot .all these fucking people really .cared about how big there bonus were .and still going on .the fucking greed of these people! !!!
3. Paulson is a great man. We were damn lucky to have him.
4. 13:44
5. What happened to the 8.3 Trillion lost at the Pentagon?
6. Warren Buffet BIGGEST crook going
7. Hank Paulson is a sleezy crook
8. These lowlife fucking criminals need to be brought to heel!!!
9. I believe that If you tell someone you have their money, you should actually have their money. Not loan It out to someone else.
10. So Warren Buffett has decided to throw integrity to the wind and support the corrupt Hillary Clinton, who doesn't know the difference between a cattle future and commercial paper.
11. Mr. Buffett, I am so sorry to see your integrity impugned by sharing a stage with, and proclaiming this cretin a friend.
12. Doesn't matter that he was the CEO, I'm sure he was still serving their purposes. You need a break troll.
13. I think it's always easy to blame the big companies like Goldman for all the problems when nobody, while "achieving" American dream thought about whether they can afford the houses or the porche that they purchased under the mortgage of the houses. It's greediness and unrealistic dreams that always inflames the crisis. No wonder they say, there is nothing new under the sun.
14. Tell ya what, let's get more specific.  Ole' Hank bailed out AIG because GS, his for shop, would have been contractually on the hook if it failed...research it, just fact.  Also, it was Ole' Hank that convinced many institutions in this country and abroad to by Fannie Mae paper because it was "wink" backed by the Govt.  Yep, ok Madoff got life, 10 years for Hank would suffice in my book having orchestrated a doubling of the debt......Oh, and while your at it the clown in the White House who doubled it again can be assigned the cell next to good OLE' HANK!!
15. too big to fail?
16. What a joke...."Ole' Hank should be in a jail cell, not pushing a BS book!!
17. I'm not sure who the bigger crook is here ? Warren Buffet confiscated $50 billion of wealth, but Hank Paulson destroyed $50 trillion of wealth, lost tens of millions of jobs, got millions of people foreclosed, millions of accelerated deaths and hundred of thousands of suicides.
    Isn't the human ape wonderful ?
18. Most people would rather have seen a more controlled and thoughtful bailout, with conditions attached, than one that enriched the crooks who caused the disaster. Inside Job, the documentary, points out the fact that Paulson was warned, and ignored all attempts at regulating the ponzi schemes in effect that lead to the collapse. Paulson served his banking associates, and robbed the poor.
19. chinese save too much??? they are living hand to mouth. all rich people save too much honestly including Paulson and so many rich staving their wealth in offshore tax havens!
    no country should follow America who has messed up their own economy. Free trade/open market does not occur with America in it.
20. Mark for Warren Buffett and Henry Paulson