Views on the Bailout, from Harlem to Wall Street

(page 2 of 2)

"You name it, we've shopped there," says Alison, a civil servant for Leeds' unemployment office. In the time the Browns have been in town, Europe has experienced its own banking crisis (BusinessWeek.com, 9/30/08). Alison Brown says she's not happy that "the bankers who got us into this mess can get away with it," but personally doesn't have to worry. "Our government bailed us out" of the crisis, she says, referring to Britain's recent takeover of Bradford & Bingley mortgage bank, as well as Northern Rock back in February. She says she and her family feel secure in Britain, while she's unsure about the average American's fate. "We're not in as much trouble as people are here," she says. "No one knows what the fallout will be [in the U.S.]."

Around the corner, a couple from Atlanta is picking up tickets for the Broadway show Frankenstein. Paul Greenberg and his wife, Audrey, have more at stake in the U.S. government's actions. "Something's got to be done," says Paul, 75. "I don't like the plan, but it's a necessary evil."

Clone of the Bankers

Greenberg says he supports the Paulson plan because he fears a deep recession or depression even more than a government giveaway. He remembers watching as a young boy as his father "struggled desperately" to feed the family during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He also doesn't want to lose the funds he has invested in the market. But that doesn't mean he trusts the bailout's main backers. "I'm a conservative, but I don't trust Mr. Paulson," he says. "He's a clone of the Wall Street bankers."

In Midtown, as in many areas of the city, many people's jobs depend directly on the rich staying rich (BusinessWeek.com, 9/28/08). Julius Gilbert, 59, drives a stretch limousine for Chris Limousine on Staten Island. Waiting for potential clients outside the Renaissance Marriott in Times Square, Gilbert expresses anger about the financial crisis but says he is resigned to the idea that something needs to be done to solve it: "If [the bailout] doesn't pass, what will happen? The rich don't have to worry. But we have to worry."

Gilbert says his income is already down this year, and he knows other drivers have been getting laid off as the finance industry contracts. "Somebody's got to come and balance everyone out," he says, referring to dealmakers in Washington. "If they don't sort it out, it will kill the working person."

Wall Street's financiers, too, are thinking day and night about Washington's next move. Get off the train at the Bowling Green station, and you're in the heart of the financial district at Manhattan's southern tip, home to the New York Stock Exchange. The narrow cobblestone streets begin to grow crowded soon after the market closes at 4 p.m. One popular gathering spot is the Wall Street institution Harry's, a mahogany-appointed bar that has been featured in such novels as Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities and Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho. For 30 years, Harry's has been a favorite stop for traders to celebrate hefty returns or mourn big losses.

Complete Faith

David Henderson, 54, stands at the bar sipping a scotch and chatting with a friend who is a managing director of La Branche Financial Services. Henderson, an independent broker at his own firm, Raven Securities, has strong views on the talks in Washington. He admits that investment banks' excesses caused the current mess but thinks Washington must act quickly to help the markets.

Henderson, like many in finance, refers to Paulson's plan a not as a "bailout" of Wall Street, but rather a "rescue" of the financial system that would benefit everyone. His chief worry is that politicians act quickly and don't attach too many bells and whistles to a bill so that it clears the needed political hurdles. Unlike Greenberg from Atlanta or Moody from Harlem, he has complete faith in the men at the helm of the Treasury Dept. and the Fed.

"We're lucky to have Paulson and Bernanke," Henderson says. "They know what we're dealing with. Some of these lawmakers don't have a clue." He worries about further delays—just a day before, after all, the stock market had plummeted (BusinessWeek.com, 9/29/08), erasing more than $1 trillion in value when the House rejected the plan. But he remains confident that the government will take action and "do the right thing."

They've "got to stop this bloodletting," says Henderson, taking another sip.

Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York.