From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

With the banking crisis, end with nationalization.

Hello again, I'm Warren Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Nobody wants

the U.S. government to take over the banking industry, but more and more people are saying that

might happen. $300 billion given to banks by the Bush administration is hardly small change,

but bank losses may add up to $2 trillion anyway. Would more federal money just disappear into

Citibank, Bank of America, and other

institutions? What about a bad bank to buy up their troubled assets? Does the Treasury have

enough resources to get the system working again? We'll hear what could be in store for investors,

stockholders, and taxpayers. On reporter's notebook letter on, opening up the records.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Mormon. I'll only back with To the Point. The U.S. banksArthur Foundation. Hello again. Warman Alany back with To the

point. U.S. banks have swallowed up $300 billion in bailout money, and they're still in trouble.

The promise of more federal assistance could be making things worse by creating a sense that

government intervention is inevitable at shareholders' expense. There's even talk of nationalizing

the banking system. We'll hear about the few grim options available to the Obama administration.

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