General Discussion

"Larry [Summers] and Christy agued that in light of mounting losses at Citigroup and Bank of America, it was time for us to consider preemptive nationalization -- the kind of strategy that Sweden had ultimately pursued when it went through its own financial crisis in the 1990s. ... In response, Tim pointed out that Sweden -- with a much smaller financial sector, and at a time when the rest of the world was stable -- had nationalized only two of its major banks as a last resort, while providing effective guarantees for its remaining four. An equivalent strategy on our part, he said, might cause the already fragile global financial system to unravel ... .. ... Some on the team suggested that we at least take a more aggressive posture toward Citibank and Bank of America. ... (I would later invite two groups of outside economists -- one left-leaning, the other conservative -- who'd publicly questioned our handling of the crisis to meet me in the Oval, just to see if they had any ideas we hadn't already considered. They didn't.)"

From "A Promised Land"

Obama says if he went back in time he'd make the same choice because nationalizing banks, stretching the definitions of criminal statutes to try to prosecute bankers, letting the big banks collapse might've made things much worse, "Worse for the very folks I'd be purporting to save." He wasn't going to take that chance.