Bush: Credit thaw 'going to take awhile'

The economy didn't falter overnight, "and it's going to take a while for the credit system to thaw," Bush said just before the markets opened, speaking across a park from the White House at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building, a symbolic headquarters of American business.

Despite a flurry of radical actions by the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve, banks in the United States and abroad are still wary of lending money to each other and to their customers. The credit clog is depriving the wheezing U.S. economy of oxygen.

Financial and credit problems have dragged on for more than a year and took a dangerous turn for the worse last month. All the fallout threatens to plunge the U.S. economy -- as well as the world economy -- into a painful recession.

That has led to erratic trading on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrials have swung widely, slashing a trillion dollars of wealth from the markets one day, only to pile some of it back on the next. The Dow seesawed between positive and negative territory in afternoon trading Friday.

Before Bush spoke, there was more grim news: Home builders cut back sharply, dropping new-home construction to its lowest point since January 1991, when the country was in a recession and going through a similar painful housing slump.

Bush defended the government's recent interventions into private business, which would have been extraordinary for any U.S. administration but have been particularly so for a Republican president.

"I would oppose such measures under ordinary circumstances," Bush said. "But these are not ordinary circumstances."

Seeking to calm fearful investors, Bush said the steps are "big enough and bold enough to work."

Earlier this week, the Treasury Department announced it would inject up to $250 billion in U.S. banks in return for partial ownership stakes, something that hasn't been done since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The government hopes banks will use the capital infusions to rebuild their reserves and bolster lending to customers.

"We took this measure as a last resort," Bush said. "Had the government not acted, the hole in our financial system would have grown larger," he warned.

Bush and his top economic aides have repeatedly asked Americans to be patient and give the government's relief efforts time to work. Democrats on Capitol Hill, though, insist another round of economic stimulus is needed.

So far this year, 15 banks have failed, compared with three last year. And Wall Street's five biggest investment firms were swallowed by other companies, filed bankruptcy or converted themselves into commercial banks to weather the financial storm.

At the same time of the Treasury announcement, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it would temporarily guarantee new issues of bank debt -- fully protecting the money even if the institution fails.

The FDIC also said it would provide unlimited deposit insurance for non-interest bearing accounts, which are mainly used by small businesses to cover payrolls and other expenses. Frequently, these accounts exceed the current $250,000 insurance limit, so the expanded insurance should discourage nervous companies from pulling their money out.

Last week, the Fed and the world's other major central banks joined forces to slice interest rates, the first coordinated action of that kind in the Fed's history. The United States and other top economic powers adopted a five-point action plan last week and pledged to do all they can to stem the crisis.

Even with so many unprecedented steps taken, Wall Street has convulsed. On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials finished up 401.35 points, after falling 380 points early in the session. A day earlier, the Dow fell a staggering 733 points. The index started the week with a record-shattering 936-point gain.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett sees opportunity in the Wall Street chaos. He's been moving his personal investments from safe Treasuries into U.S. stocks

"To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions," Buffett wrote in an opinion piece in The New York Times. "But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation's many sound companies make no sense."

The market eventually will turn around. "So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over," he said.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned this week that even if financial markets were to stabilize, the economy would not quickly snap back to good health.

Unemployment -- now at 6.1 percent -- could hit 7.5 percent or higher by next year. Many analysts predict the economy will shrink later this year and early next year, meeting the classic definition of a recession. Some believe the economy already jolted into reverse during the July-to-September quarter.

Americans are feeling strained as their paychecks shrink and their savings shrivel. That's causing shoppers to cut back, one of the reasons the economy is losing traction. Economic slowdowns overseas, meanwhile, are expected to crimp demand for U.S. exports, which has been a main force keeping the economy afloat.