Derivatives and Too-Big-To-Fail Banks: Creating Systemic Risk
This speech was delivered to the New York Society of Security Analysts on December 3, 2104, as part of a conference on systemic risk. I’ve tried to insert the slides with the reader in mind. I was at the time chair of NYSSA’s Market Integrity Committee’s subcommittee on systemic risk, an extremely awkward role. 70%…
U.S. Debt: What No Candidate Mentions
The biggest issue facing the nation is one that no candidate mentions. Maybe all the antics and hate-mongering are a ruse to distract voters from the silence. The issue is our national debt burden. A dull topic perhaps, or involving math, or maybe involving time or thought. Certainly not fun or entertaining. Let me counter…
Derivatives and Systemic Risk: It’s Also About Jobs
[This research was posted to the New York Society of Security Analysts’ Finance Professionals’ Post on August 24th, 2014.] Derivatives are the least understood component of systemic risk. Derivatives pose issues of size, measurement and behavior unlike loans. They string the biggest banks together in ways unseen three decades ago and even undermine job creation.…
Larry Summers, President Obama and the Fed Chairmanship
President Obama will make one of the most important decisions of his second administration when he nominates the next Fed Chairman. Election politics are the norm, but does the fate of the nation recede into the background as Larry Summers’ star rises? Is President Obama more comfortable with Treasury officials who helped build the financial…