Here are some of the better blog entries on the Bear Stearns situation:

1.  from Greg Mankiw, economist at Harvard (his blog is EXCELLENT by the way)

2.  from The Big Picture

So my wheels are starting to turn a bit…is this a government bailout?  At first, I thought it was simply a government loan to ensure an orderly liquidation, which has now been consummated at $2/share, with BS shareholders almost completely wiped out.  This is tragic for a lot of people, no doubt, but it certainly doesn’t sound like the government bailed anyone out.

On the other hand, there’s the matter of this $30 billion Fed guarantee.  What exactly are the terms of this guarantee?  It smells pretty bad.

I also wonder why JPM won the bidding.  You might argue that they have the most to gain from an acquisition.  Apparently they’ve wanted a prime brokerage for a while now.

But you could also see how JPM might have bid the most because they have the most to lose.  Is it possible that they had the most exposure to BS’s positions, and simply couldn’t afford the implosion/bankruptcy of BS?  Do the transactions get canceled now, since the counterparties are merged?  (i’m a little over my head here…can anyone enlighten herbietown readers?)