Start "good" banks

By Creature

Paul Romer, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, in today's Wall Street Journal:

Everyone agrees that the United States urgently needs a few good banks. Turning bad banks into good banks is a difficult and risky way to get them. It's simpler and safer to start entirely new banks.

In this context, "good" means a bank with assets and liabilities that are easy to value using market prices. At a good bank, officers, regulators and investors can be confident about the value of the bank's capital.

Creature, senior nothing and blogger, from a week or so ago:

On the other hand, if the Obama administration is so keen on setting up a bank, why not set up a "good bank" that will responsibly loan money and eventually fill the vacuum when Citibank and Bank of America collapse under the weight of their own stupidity.

Maybe it's time to give up my day job.