Key Bear deal players speak out

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO

"The key point, in my view, is this: Bear Stearns would have failed without this effort, and the consequences could have been disastrous. The idea that the Bear Stearns fallout would have been limited to a few Wall Street firms just isn't so. People all over America - union members, retirees, small business owners, and our parents and children - are now invested in the financial system through pensions, 401(k)s, mutual funds and the like."

"A Bear Stearns bankruptcy could well have touched off a chain reaction of defaults at other major financial institutions. That would have shaken confidence in credit markets that already have been battered. And it could have made it harder for home buyers to get mortgages, harder for municipalities to get the funds they need to build schools and hospitals, and harder for students who need loans to pay tuition."

"Moreover, such a cascade of trouble could have further depressed consumer confidence and consumer spending, resulted in widespread job losses, and accelerated the current economic downturn."

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