TW: Krugman addresses a point already made here regarding the void in DC while we wait for the Obama Administration. As most realize by now the last time we were in a similiar situation was the winter of '32-'33 when the US had to wait until mid-March for FDR to arrive after his November election. At least now after that disaster they pushed the transition date up two months. Regardless Jan 20 is a ways off and this week's fumbling in DC symbolizes why in times like these one needs strong, decisive leadership of the type difficult to provide by any lameduck much less one as discredited as W. Bush.
From Krugman/NYT:
"... In 2008, as in 1932, a long era of Republican political dominance came to an end in the face of an economic and financial crisis that, in voters’ minds, both discredited the G.O.P.’s free-market ideology and undermined its claims of competence...the long stretch between the election and the actual transfer of power, was disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action...
maybe letting the auto companies die is the right decision, even though an auto industry collapse would be a huge blow to an already slumping economy. But it’s a decision that should be taken carefully, with full consideration of the costs and benefits — not a decision taken by default, because of a political standoff between Democrats who want Mr. Paulson to use some of that $700 billion and a lame-duck administration that’s trying to force Congress to divert funds from a fuel-efficiency program instead..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=2&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
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