Editor's Letter: The new N-word
Why do officials bristle at the suggestion that they are moving toward bank "nationalization"?
It has been called the new N-word, and while it has nothing to do with race, it may be nearly as incendiary. Over the past few weeks, the Obama administration has been issuing increasingly dire warnings about the precarious state of the nation’s financial system and the urgent need for additional federal intervention. But officials have bristled at any suggestion that they’re moving toward bank “nationalization.” Sure, there may be a new kind of “public-private partnership” between banks and the government, and, yes, some major banks may be placed in “temporary receivership” as part of a “pre-privatization” process. The government could soon even take a “partial ownership stake” in Citigroup. But nationalizing the banks? In capitalist America? No way.
I wonder whether Team Obama has been secretly conferring with Frank Luntz. He’s the Republican consultant who helped reshape the political landscape in the 1990s by advising Republicans on how to use language more, shall we say, effectively. So the time-honored estate tax was transformed into the dreaded death tax, and global warming morphed into the more benign climate change. In politics, Luntz observed, naming an issue can be half the battle. After a presidential campaign in which Obama was accused of having socialistic tendencies, it’s unlikely that his bank-rescue efforts will ever include the word “nationalization”—which for many people conjures up images of Soviet commissars and Latin American despots. Only 37 percent of Americans, a USA Today/Gallup poll found this week, support “temporary nationalization” of failing banks. Ah, but 54 percent favor a “temporary government takeover” of failing banks—which happens to be the same thing. The people have spoken.
Eric Effron
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Editor's letter
feature
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: Are college athletes employees?
feature The National Labor Relations Board's decision deeming scholarship players “employees” of Northwestern University has many worrying that college sports itself will soon be history.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter
feature
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: When a bot takes your job
feature Now that computers can write news stories, drive cars, and play chess, we’re all in trouble.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: Electronic cocoons
feature Smartphones have their upside, but city streets are now full of people walking with their heads down.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: The real cause of income inequality
feature When management and stockholders pocket all the profits, the middle class falls further behind.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: The real reason you’re so forgetful
feature When you consider how much junk we’ve stored in our brains, it’s no surprise we can’t remember our PINs.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Editor's letter: Ostentatious politicians
feature The McDonnells’ indictment for corruption speaks volumes about the company elected officials now keep.
By The Week Staff Last updated