He observes that banks are facing not merely a liquidity problem, but a solvency problem. He notes, in advocating his triage approach:
This approach is not pretty or easy. It will cost a lot of money, with the lion's share coming from US taxpayers, at least in the short to medium term. But the alternative – a piecemeal pumping of more public money into insolvent banks in the vague hope that things will improve down the road – could truly be historic folly.
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