Hear: Fed Goes Low

NPR | By Laura Conaway

Published October 8, 2008 at 1:59 PM PDT

Hear: Fed Goes Low

Today on Planet Money:

As we published this podcast, the government announced it was lending insurer AIG another $37.8 billion — on top of the $85 billion it loaned the firm last month. Listener Tom Youngs, whose question is in this episode, will be interested to hear it.

-- The U.S. is so busy trying to fix the credit crunch that it's ignoring a drastic drop-off in consumer spending. That's the word fromAmir Sufi of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

-- Simon Johnson of Baseline Scenario talks about his thumper in the Financial Times, Why Doesn't Continental Europe Get It?

-- Adam Davidson answers a question from Tom Youngs about U.S. control of AIG — and by extension, our perhaps more socialized future.

-- Tom Dautel recognized his old classmate, Neel Kashkari, after Kashkari was named boss of the $700 billion bailout. Dautel gives David Kestenbaum the big picture (and the small one above).

Download the podcast; or subscribe. Follow our Twitter feed.