The White House yesterday dismissed Silvio Berlusconi’s suggestion that the markets should be shut down for a few days. But support for this idea is still gathering pace. Steven Pearlstein, the Washington Post’s respected business commentator, makes the case for it today:
the markets could use a timeout just about now, something that lasts longer than a weekend and gives policymakers around the world the chance to get a good nice sleep and evaluate their options without feeling like they have to respond to every movement flashing across their Bloomberg screens. It would allow some time for passions to cool and for real investors to regain control of markets now dominated by the computerized short-term trading strategies of hedge funds and hot-shot money managers desperate to recoup some of their losses. It would give banks and major corporations a chance to regain the trust of the markets by issuing unscheduled updates on their financial condition.
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