Word: britain
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...capitalist beast in the name of equality and social justice. So while the U.S. government has had to save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Germany has had to save Hypo Real Estate with $69 billion. Berlin has also guaranteed all private accounts to the tune of $1.37 trillion. Britain has served up a bailout plan for its banks worth about $88 billion, and even Moscow has pumped $186 billion into the Russian banking system...
This institutional problem pales beside the political one: when crisis strikes, Europe almost never acts like a true union. After French President Nicolas Sarkozy summoned the leaders of Britain, Germany and Italy to Paris on Oct. 4, German Chancellor Angela Merkel coolly torpedoed his proposed $409 billion Europe-wide financial rescue plan. No money for the greedy fools of other lands, she seemed to say, only to then guarantee German private bank accounts and save Hypo Real Estate. That followed similar moves by Ireland and Greece. And Britain's Gordon Brown will always be loath to see Brussels...
...beginning of the week as the FTSE 100 racked up its biggest fall in 21 years. Last month the government was forced to nationalize the mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, and earlier this year it took over another debt-ridden bank, Northern Rock, guaranteeing the deposits of retail customers. Britain's protection scheme for private-sector banks guarantees deposits only up to $87,500, causing some jittery savers to look on enviously as some European Union countries announced full protection for all retail accounts...
...That was one reason so many Americans regarded Hank Paulson's bailout plan with skepticism. And it's why Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, did not want to dwell Wednesday morning on how Britain's banking sector had got into such a parlous state that the government was compelled to spend up to $88 billion in taxpayers' money to secure it. Their emergency rescue plan was hatched over weeks but finalized in such a hurry that bleary officials labored overnight to finish it before the skittish markets opened. At a morning press conference, both...
...briefing as word filtered through that the formal announcement of the rescue package had failed to immediately restore optimism in the market. At market close, London's FTSE-100 index had fallen by 5.18%, even though the bailout plan was swiftly followed by coordinated rate cuts in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere. France's CAC 40 closed 6.3% lower on the day, and Germany's DAX lost 5.9%. Certainly, at least some of the downwards momentum was generated the day before by sinking New York shares and rocky rides in other stock markets across the globe. Brown believes elements...