President George W. Bush attempted to boost confidence in the midst of a financial crisis Friday, as markets around the world saw another sharp sell-off.
"Over the past few days we have witnessed a startling drop in the stock market much of it driven by uncertainty and fear," Bush said in remarks delivered outside the White House. "This has been a deeply unsettling period for the American people."
While he recognized that citizens are concerned about their retirements, Bush attempted to soothe frazzled nerves by stating that "the United States government is acting," adding that "we will continue to act to...bring prosperity to our markets."
Policymakers have a wide range of tools at their disposal, and Bush assured the public that his administration is "using these tools aggressively."
He explained that the credit markets remain frozen, and that currently banks lack not only the capital but also the confidence in each other to make loans. The credit freeze could keep American businesses from financing daily transactions the president noted, explaining that that breeds "uncertainty throughout our economy."
"Uncertainty has led to anxiety and that is understandable, that anxiety can feed anxiety and that makes it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem," Bush said.
Continuing his efforts to calm panicked Americans, Bush pledged continued government efforts to solve the crisis.
"Fellow citizens we can solve this crisis and we will," he said.
He praised international cooperation in the form of a coordinated interest rate cut. He also noted several other steps taken by the Government to ease strains on the market, including Federal Reserve's decision to support the frozen commercial paper market, and the bipartisan work on the $700 billion financial rescue plan which included raising FDIC insurance on deposits to $250,000.
Discussions about the global turmoil will continue this weekend at the Group of Seven summit, Bush added. The international cooperation is an "unmistakable signal that we're in this together and we'll come through this together," he said.
Concluding his remarks, he assured Americans that the "economy is industrious and resilient…Americans who make up our economy are motivated, industrious, and resilient."
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