Ask Attanasio

Very interesting interview here. Interesting excerpts:

(On whether 'bailing out' banks and not 'bailing out' the Big 3 is a "double standard")

What I would say, just because you bailed out one does not mean you bail out everyone else. I have felt that I never understood anyway how the auto industry was going to get resolved without the bankruptcy process. It was way too complicated to do on a negotiated basis without a bankruptcy court that can enforce the rejection of claims and whatnot.

(S'pose John Torinus just sold his season tickets back to the Brewers?)

Q. Is there credit out there?

A. Banks are frozen because on one hand the government and everyone else say you must loan money. But don't lose any money, either. And they are already losing money every day with the mark-to-market rules.

If you tell someone don't lose any more money, they're not going to make any loans. I think we have a ways to go before banks are willing to loan money. That's very important, everything from the guy who wants to be a franchisee, or get new equipment for his food store, to companies, there's no credit for companies of any sort.

That's not entirely true; credit is available--and not overpriced--for a variety of purchases.

Recall that Attanasio operates a leveraged financial group, which colors his outlook a bit.