An Even Playing Field? This Is the Himalayas!
An even playing field is an essential component of America’s sense of fair play. Nowhere is it more critical to success than in the very competitive world of our largest banks. So a Bloomberg News article of October 18, 2011, led to a number of surprises in that arena. The article described how the Federal Reserve overrode the FDIC and allowed Bank…
The Lord of Systemic Risk?
The Dodd-Frank bill of 2010 increased the political influence of the U.S. Treasury Secretary. He who occupies that position (and it’s been a male to date) has been granted major new powers under the bill.
Why No Prosecutions?
There have been virtually no prosecutions to date for the near collapse of all our biggest banks and for the building of a residential mortgage morass. The comments on Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story’s lengthy article in April 14th’s New York Times (“In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures”) show our nation is divided…
Taking the Paulson Challenge
A major, but poorly understood issue that faces the newest members of our Congress is financial reform. Systemic risk is as pervasive as before. Another financial collapse could happen within the near future. Little has changed. Whereas stupid decisions at major financial institutions, failures of oversight by regulators and faulty ratings from the credit rating…