Bank Nationalization “As American As Apple Pie”

Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said Sunday that bank nationalization was "as American as apple pie" during a round-table discussion on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos.

"We have nationalized 14 banks already this year," Krugman said. "We don't call it that but there were 14 banks, two a week that the FDIC seized because they didn't have enough assets to pay their depositors." 

The economist said it seems that the government has no other choice than to temporarily intervene in order to clean up banks with toxic assets and change management.

"So actually nationalization as properly understood is probably as American as apple pie," Krugman said.

Professor Nouriel Roubini a.k.a. "Dr. Doom," also on the round table,

argued that banks ought to be nationalized.

"We have already put a huge amount of money as a government into these banks," Roubini said. "This is not anymore even a partisan issue, when you have Alan Greenspan, [Sen.] Lindsey Graham and others saying we want a temporary nationalization." 

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