Stating the obvious

It's not a good sign when the government has to intervene to prevent a run on a bank that is already owned by the government,

But Megan McArdle points out that this is what's happening in Ireland. The state-owned Anglo Irish Bank Corp. is to be divided into a government-backed bank that would hold customer deposits and an "asset recovery bank" holding the bank's increasingly bad loans. What the bet the "asset recovery bank" isn't worth a lot. But it could be sold in whole or part down the road. I wish them luck.