Bailout

So the talk of the nation is the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. I don't know enough about the specifics to have a strong opinion (does anyone?), but from what I've read I would vote against it. Besides, the idea of giving a handful of bureaucrats the corresponding power makes me very nervous. Newt has some good questions. This is very good too, (hat tip Mankiw). This might also be interesting, from Harvard's president:

I hope that you will join fellow students, faculty, and staff colleagues for a special panel discussion on this Thursday, September 25, entitled "Understanding the Crisis in the Markets: A Panel of Harvard Experts." We are fortunate to have on campus some of the nation's leading scholars and practitioners in finance, policy, law, and other fields relevant to the current situation, and several of them have generously agreed to participate in a special session for the Harvard community to help us understand and interpret recent developments in the U.S. and world markets. The panel will begin at 4:00 p.m. in Sanders Theatre and will include the following faculty members:

Robert Kaplan, Professor of Management Practice
Jay Light, Dwight P. Robinson, Jr. Professor of Business Admin
Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics
Robert Merton, John and Natty McArthur University Professor
Kenneth Rogoff, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy
Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law

You can watch online, Thursday at 4pm eastern, here.