SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : View from the Center and Left

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: TimF who wrote (103673)2/9/2009 9:42:15 PM
From: slacker711   of 542019
 
I disagree, but I'm not sure there is anything either of us could easily note and link to to show the other person's claim as obviously false.

It is obviously going to depend quite a bit on how we define "credit". I am sure that home loans and various other types of credit still continued at substantially reduced rates.

However, I think it is impossible to say that the corporate bond market was anything but frozen. Here is a number from RealMoney's Tony Crescenzi on October 14th. This would represent around a 85% decline in issuances. I'm not sure how much more of a contraction you might need to get to the point that you would call it a freeze.

Over the past four weeks, only $11.2 billion of bonds have been issued in the U.S. corporate bond market, well below normal levels of about $4 billion per day.

I guess it is possible to argue that this freeze was due to the markets waiting for government action, but at a certain point the markets force the government's hand. You would need to set up a near certainty of no government action long before the crisis to insure that the markets not act in this manner....which is basically an impossibility under the current political system.

Slacker
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext