The [Canadian] federal and provincial government’s willingness to backstop the [ABCP] restructuring came amid a threat earlier this month from the foreign banks involved in the restructuring that they would walk away and scuttle the reorganization. [1]
The dead period between Christmas and New Years is an especially good time to pillage the public purse — especially with Washington in lame-duck mode with potentially $100s of billions burning a hole in Neel’s pocket. Was the Madoff Ponzi really too big to fail? Tribune Corp? CalPERS? Please drop us a line if you’ve got a hint as to where our great-grandchildren’s tax dollars are going. In Week I of the quiet time there were some humdingers, including the socialization of the risks to Canada’s ABCP fiasco. Let’s see if we can top that in Week II.
… and don’t forget Friday January 2nd — a perfect day for one last raid into the money-pit.
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[1]: “Ottawa, provinces contribute billions in investment guarantees”, by Philip Ling, CanWest / Vancouver Province, December 29, 2008.
