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from MacroScope:

Who do you blame for the credit crisis?

Greedy bankers are routinely blamed for the credit crisis but one British-based poll of -- well, financiers -- spreads the blame more widely.

Gary Jenkins, head of fixed income research at Evolution Securities, wanted a more specific scapegoat and ran a poll of about 200 mostly fund managers and investors asking them to pick their credit crisis culprit. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was the clear winner, picking up 35 percent of the votes. He has been widely criticised over the past year for low interest rate policies that helped fuel the credit boom.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton also figured quite prominently with about 10 percent of  votes, and British prime minister Gordon Brown got quite a few.

Some bankers were singled out, including Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland and Richard Fuld, the head of collapsed Lehman Brothers.

In a related article in Euroweek, Jenkins also had a unique culprit -- Bill Gates of Microsoft. None of the maths behind structured credit could be done without spreadsheets like Excel, Jenkins reckons.

So who do you think is to blame?

(Reuters photo: Kevin Lamarque)

Money, money everywhere …except in your pocket?

There’s lots of money sloshing around the financial system these days. The Federal Reserve has established a target range of 0-0.25 percent for its key rate, bringing it closer to unconventional action to lift the economy out of a year-long recession.

From Washington, the first package aimed at rescuing the credit crisis-hit banking sector amounted to $700 billion. Treasury can use only half of that amount and it has already pledged all but $15 billion of it. The Senate has refused to pass a $14 billion rescue package for Detroit’s three major car companies last week, leaving it in the hands of the Bush administration to work out a deal.

So far, the names that are on the receiving end of all the cash — AIG, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and if a deal can be made, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — are all very big companies.

The Fed’s latest move could help funnel some cash to the ordinary folks at the helm of the economic ship. What do you think, will any of the money flooding the financial system reach smaller companies or other borrowers? If you’re an individual looking for more cash, are you having trouble and do you think help is on the way?

How is the crisis affecting you?

A London businessman may have to put off his wedding. A baker in Paris fears customers will disappear. A student in Slovenia sees an automobile loan fall out of reach. A real estate agent in Chicago says she’s just plain scared.

And in France, more Parisians appear to be storing their money the old-fashioned way : in a safe.

What are you doing differently due to the meltdown in the world financial markets? Leave your answer in comments. If you’d like us to include your comments in a Reuters wrap-up, please include your name, location and profession.

Bailout vote fails: disaster or a vote for the people?

By a vote of 228-to-205 the House of Representatives rejected a compromise plan that would have allowed the Treasury Department to buy up toxic debt from struggling banks. Is the rejection a “complete disaster” or “a vote for the people who did not issue or accept a sub-prime mortgage?” Join the debate in the comments field below.

Is the bailout enough to right-foot the banks?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are urging Congress to act swiftly on a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial system.

Politico.com quotes a former Federal Reserve official as saying, “the alternative is complete financial Armageddon and a great depression.”

Hugo Duncan writes in the Evening Standard that if the bailout fails, “banking stocks are likely to drag shares around the world into the mire sparking further panic over the financial system and state of the economy. It would make recession in America and Britain ever more likely, with house prices and standards of living falling and repossessions and unemployment rising.”

Assuming that Congress approves the Bernanke-Paulson bailout plan, do you think it is enough to stabilize the banking sector?

The impact on Main Street from the crisis on Wall Street is another open question. “How long it will take the banks to restore health to their balance sheets, raise capital and start lending money again,” Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, tells Nick Carey. ”That could take a year and credit conditions may start to improve in the second half of 2009.”

For full coverage of the crisis in credit, click here.

Feeling squeezed?

In the past year, consumers have been battered by the housing market downturn, surging food and fuel costs, a credit crunch, and a weakening job market.

On Monday, Wall Street had its worst day since markets reopened after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, as Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy

The U.S. Federal Reserve stepped in to rescue insurance giant American International Group from bankruptcy with an $85 billion loan on Tuesday, the latest in a series of bailouts and loans for the financial and housing sectors.

And instead of quelling concerns, the AIG rescue seemed to have ignited fears that more bad news is to come.

How have you been affected by this week’s upheaval on Wall Street? Were you a victim of the Lehman bankruptcy, or has your employer been forced to downsize? How has it affected your bottom line – savings, investments, 401k?

Join the discussion on how the crunch is affecting you.

Did Treasury make the right move on Freddie and Fannie?

Equity markets around the world surged on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout  as hopes rose that the U.S. plan to take control might put at least a temporary floor under troubled financial markets. Together, the two companies back about half of $12 trillion in mortgages in the U.S.”This is a baby step in the right direction,” William Larkin, fixed income portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Salem, Massachusetts, said about the plan’s effect on housing and the economy.

Not everyone is convinced. “This euphoria might fade, because Fannie and Freddie are not the problem,” said Christopher Low , chief economist at FTN Financial.

“Their woes are a symptom of a worldwide contraction in credit that may not be cured by the decision.” The Prudent Investor cites how the plan potentially doubled U.S. public debt overnight.

Did the U.S. Treasury make the right move? What’s your view?

Feeling lucky? If you think the Fannie and Freddie rescue plan will impact mortgage rates, wager on your prediction here:

Will the 30-year mortgage rate fall this week after the rescue of Freddie and Fannie?

Pinching pennies

Times are tough for Americans as their wallets take multiple blows from the housing slump, rising oil and food prices, growing unemployment, inflation fears and recession talk. Many homeowners are facing negative equity, with mortgages bigger than their property’s value.

Even as recently as November, households were going into debt to maintain spending, but new numbers show that Americans are saving at the highest rate since March 1995.

With gasoline prices topping $4 per gallon, fewer Americans will be hitting the road for holidays. Die-hard sports fans are making sacrifices even as they refuse to give up the luxury of going to the game.

What are you sacrificing to make ends meet?

Caption: A vendor sells candy to fans attending the MLB interleague baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs in Chicago June 27, 2008. REUTERS/Frank Polich