Stephen H Baum Leadership

Suddenly, a few of those in power are playing to win and doing so for people other than themselves.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced a moratorium on foreclosures. In American football we would call this an “audible.” It should have been called on first down instead of waiting almost until they have to punt, but better late than never.

Pelosi, Reid and company have hurried to the microphone to announce a decision to take no action. Their “show me the plan or we wont show you the money…tell us how you will become viable, ” is an appropriate “time out” lest we pour money into three poorly managed companies without any reassurance that it wont be good money after bad and more will be requested later.

Even Paulson appears to be changing his gameplan in the face of losing ground. The first half he played an all-passing, “hail Mary” game and the institutions to whom he threw kept the ball and ran off the field with it (think: bonuses, parties, private jets, but not lending or re-structuring loans). Now he is thinking about restoring trust in the economy and financial system. This is a running game and also playing defense, both of which require much more blocking and tackling not to mention persistence.

The clock is ticking before many on our team get hurt and we run out of time, but there seems to be some thought, rather than knee-jerk or self-centered solutions. I sure hope so.

That’s my view. What’s yours?