Elite Council On Economic Leadership

Call it a special government sponsored think tank, if you will.

It's not clear to me that any one body of legislators or representatives of Wall Street's deep bench of analysts is prepared to propose a solution to the current financial crisis. There is plenty of talent out there, in the corporate world, at least, and I suspect that there is a lot of jockeying for position once the mythical 'bottom' is reached.

In the absense of evidence that a viable plan for reshaping America's financial condidtion, I propose that the government should sanction an elite commission made up of the smartest people in the country to formulate a plan for an economic recovery. This idea should not be too difficult to implement. There are smart people at Princeton University, M.I.T., Columbia University, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and even in Congress that should be tapped to meet this challenge.

My Kinda Guy

Today (Thurs. Oct. 16, 2008), John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley was interviewed in an extensive discourse on factors that have caused the current financial crisis. When Mack was asked by the reporter if he thought the U.S. was heading for a recession, he said, "We are already in a recession. I would have said the same thing if you asked me nine months ago."

Now, that kind of stuff impresses me. More than half the world insists on taking the shallow position that we 'are' or 'might' or 'will' be going into a recession. That mindset is totally ludicrous, and it is part of the reason we couldn't get out of our own way when the sky caved in. (If it looks like a bear, smells like a bear and hugs like a bear, it probably is a bear.)

I was also gratified to hear Mack say that Morgan Stanley was in the group of investment banks that got carried away with leveraged deals. He did not stutter and his references were basically unconditional. Sure, it's probably safer for him to come clean now than it might have been a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, he offered compelling reasons to believe people with his professed ambition for future reform can make a huge difference in the financial markets.

Mack gave Mr. Paulson too much credit for working toward a solution. That's another argument that I am likely to roll out later this week. Meanwhile, the markets need a handful of experts who can come together and focus on the remedies that can heal our economy. In my opinion, part of the solution is to reduce speed and not try to get the money machines rolling too quickly.

Hudster