The Bailout And Foreign Banks

As if the $700 billion bailout plan isn't complex enough in dealing with American banks, it also has to deal with foreign banks. Why? Because the international financial system is so international, that many foreign banks have subsidiaries in the U.S. and, even if they don't, banks from Brussels to Bangkok own securities backed by bad U.S. mortgages. If enough large foreign banks fall on bad U.S. paper, it'll pull down the world economy as surely as the failure of a large U.S. bank. How will the Fed deal with these international issues? And what do foreigners make of the U.S. economic crisis? Guests include Peter Hahn of the Cass Business School in London, and Andrew Hilton, Director of the Center for the Study of Financial Innovation in London.