PIMCO’s Gross: Bush Needs to Bail Out Homeowners

PIMCO’s well-known manager Bill Gross said in a letter to clients that President Bush needs to “write some checks” and bail out troubled homeowners. (Here’s the full letter, for those that are interested.)

From Bloomberg:

Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., urged the Bush administration, rather than the Federal Reserve, to bail out U.S. homeowners to avoid “destructive housing deflation.”

“Fiscal, not monetary policy should be the preferred remedy,” said Gross, who manages the $103 billion Pimco Total Return Fund. “This rescue, which admittedly might bail out speculators who deserve much worse, would support millions of hard working Americans whose recent hours have become ones of frantic desperation.”

Gross has his reasons, I’m sure, and I’m usually a fan of what he has to say — but he’s wrong here. I’ll pull together some commentary on why I think this is later this weekend.