The nationalization “plan” is a Swedish fish story. The more they repeat it the bigger the fish gets.

My point is that it was a little pollywog and not a fish at all.

As to what the US needed to do, you can find my thoughts about that here

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2009/03/gillian-tett-washington-is-talking-to-swedes-about-banking-crisis-solutions.html#comment-4344

The G20 meeting broached the subject of a new reserve currency. Russia and China are leading the push of a new, non-dollar reserve. They are starting to circle the wagons for a push. The fact that is missing from the discussion is that we have a system of fiat currencies whose only value is our illusion that they have one. The dollar started as a gold backed reserve currency. Now they think they can start anew with another fiat. Their attempts to do this will fracture the shared illusion of value and the system will collapse.

So focusing on Swedish banks is silly. The Swedish plan is a old ghost of a fish tale and there are much bigger “fish” to fry.

The nationalization of even one bank accomplishes a lot. It indicates that remaining banks are relatively healthy. It expedites the clean up of the worst actor. It affirms appropriate incentives.

Would you prefer to continue paying out random subsidies?

Those are glassy-eyes folks.

Ljundgren visited Japan in 2001? Ah, so we can add Japan’s moribund economy and near 30% drop in exports to his dubious list of achievements.

Why don’t you pundits do your homework instead of regurgitating spurious pablum written by fellow pundits?

As Auerbach notes, Sweden nationalized two banks (actually it was one Mr. Auerbach, they stuffed Göta into Nordbanken about 6 months before the latter was nationalized). They *didn’t* nationalize any of the other three major banks or any of the 20-odd little ones.

This idea that nationalization was policy is ludicrous. It was not. It was anecdotal. One bank. That’s it folks. That’s all she (Sweden) wrote. Get with the program.

Ljundgrens glassy-eyed stare will lead the US down the path to all of the wonderments we see in the Japanese economy today.

Count on it.