Bank stock purchase pushed; `no' to protectionism

By HARRY DUNPHY and TOM RAUM, AP Next Politics & Policy Article WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis. With a new trading week dawning, U.S. lawmakers urged quick action by the Bush administration on measures to make direct purchases of bank stock to help unlock lending. Speaking for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's Committee on Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, left, minister of Economy and Finance of Niger, briefs reporters on efforts to assist developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt, at IMF headquarters in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008. At center is Sierra Leone's Minister of Finance and Development David Carew, and at right is... [read full story]