Hillary Clinton on Monday called on President George W. Bush to set up an emergency group to stem the tide of home foreclosures that would include Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Robert Rubin, former US Treasury secretary.

The Democratic party’s presidential contender said Mr Bush should also provide $30bn (€19bn, £15bn) in aid to homeowners facing imminent repossession, which would match the sum provided by the Fed last week to Bear Stearns, the troubled investment bank. Almost 9m Americans now have negative equity, which means their mortgages are larger than the value of their homes.