http://tinyurl.com/4qz3kz

== How this looks on Main Street ==

"If it doesn't get resolved, there are many ways this credit crunch will 
affect local economies," said Joseph H. Davis, Ph.D., Vanguard's chief 
economist.

"Local businesses will have difficulty making payroll or extending credit to 
their customers. Local municipalities will find that they can't acquire 
funding for their usual activities unless they pay unusually high interest 
rates. And consumers will find that if they can get a loan at all, they'll 
pay much higher rates."

On a larger scale, giant companies that employ tens of thousands of workers 
are already finding that shrinking access to capital is hindering their 
ability to finance their operations.

"All these cumulative effects could dramatically slow spending and cause a 
jump in unemployment," said Dr. Davis.



"As proposed, this rescue plan would allow the U.S. Treasury to buy these 
securities at a significant discount from the initial loan value, or at 
least establish a value for them that could generate interest from other 
buyers," said Kenneth Volpert, a principal who oversees Vanguard's taxable 
bond funds.

"This plan shouldn't be called a bailout because the money is not simply 
spent and consumed. The money will be used to buy real assets.

"The risk of not doing anything is much higher. Without intervention of some 
sort, banks will stop lending, consumers won't have access to credit, and 
companies won't be able to expand. In fact, they may have to shrink. The 
cost to the economy could be many times more than $700 billion."



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