On Frozen Credit Markets

Here's an interesting observation by DON BOUDREAUX:

"I can't count the number of times I've heard in the past few days that credit markets are now frozen in America. Such a 'freeze' allegedly is a main reason justifying Uncle Sam's longed-for bailout of Wall Street.

Well, some tropical sun must be hitting at least a small part of the credit market, for yesterday's mail brought to my son, Thomas, an offer of a credit card from American Express.

Thomas is eleven. And while his credit is pretty good with his mother and me, I'm very impressed that he's managed to establish his credit creds so firmly with a company that, if there's truth in today's told tale, has scant amounts money to lend.

In looking over this offer of credit to my pre-pubescent son, I see that Thomas Macaulay Boudreaux's qualifications for this generous offer seem to be the fact that he has a mailing address and a frequent-flyer number with a major airline.

Geez, I can only imagine what sorts of offers of credit will flood in to Thomas if and when Uncle Sam thoroughly thaws the credit markets with a bailout."

Maybe this illustrates one of the principles I like to keep in mind: You can't trust what you read or hear that comes from the news industry.