Obama had Paul Volcker at his side when he announced his new plan to regulate the big banks. This is a big deal. It may signal the beginning of the end for the of reign of Larry Summers and Treasury Secretary Geithner over Obama’s economic and financial policies.
By giving the big banks every possible [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Corporate Power'
Paul Volcker’s Influence Rises
January 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Bailout, Banks, Corporate Power, Economy, Federal Reserve, Financial, Obama, Stock Market, Treasury, Wall Street
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“Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift”
November 16th, 2009 · No Comments · Bailout, Corporate Power, Economy, Policy, Taxpayers, Wall Street
The latest outrage is revealed in this New York Times article. Next to the Wall Street banks is their any group less deserving of taxpayer largess than the big homebuilders that reaped the benefits of Wall Street’s mortgage financing bonanza? I can’t think of one. Well, read it and weep. The latest handout – to [...]
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The Sad State of Our Country
October 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Bailout, Banks, Corporate Power, Credit Default Swaps, Federal Reserve, Mortgages, Obama, Policy, Politics, Restructuring, Stock Market, Taxpayers, Treasury, Video, Wall Street
Last night I watch Bill Moyers Journal via the internet. The first piece interviewed David Simom, creator of “The Wire.” His realistic view of the quagmire of drugs/ghettos/crime/corruption had such a ring of Knowing that I found myself nodding and shaking my head again and again. If you are a “Wire” fan, as I am, [...]
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The Amazing World of High Frequency Trading – You Lose!
July 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Analysis, Banks, Corporate Power, Federal Reserve, Stock Market, Wall Street
I wrote last week about the high level of program trading, notably by Goldman Sachs. The details on this trading are emerging fast in the blogosphere, and it won’t be long until it hits the mainstream. There is a war going on among competing firms, using computers and inside order information, to capture the immense [...]
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Why I’m Discouraged
July 1st, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bailout, Banks, Commodities, Corporate Power, Debt, Economy, Federal Reserve, Financial, Global Economy, Obama, Policy, Politics, Stock Market, Treasury, Wall Street
I’ve been discouraged for some time by Obama’s apparent reliance for advice on two of the architects of the transfer of wealth and power to the mega investment banks. Larry Summers, who is the economic adviser on whom Obama relies most heavily, led the push for repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in the Clinton Administration. [...]
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Unemployment Claims Fall Because Benefits Exhausted
June 23rd, 2009 · No Comments · Bailout, Banks, Corporate Power, Unemployment, Wall Street
This interesting information comes from Barry Ritholz, The Big Picture:
Continuing Claims “Exhaustion Rate”
Posted: 22 Jun 2009 07:00 AM PDT
Last week, we saw Continuing Claims decrease — proof, said the green shooters, of the imminent economic recovery.
Only, not so much:
Those of you (who can still afford the luxury of) a trusty Bloomberg will note the ‘exhaustion [...]
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Compensation Not the Real Problem
June 11th, 2009 · No Comments · Bailout, Corporate Power, Financial, Policy, Wall Street
Barry Ritholz, the author of the very popular financial blog, The Big Picture, has recently written a book, Bailout Nation. I’ve not read the book, but I’ve followed his blog regularly. He was one of the most vocal of the critics of Obama’s bailouts of the big investment banks. He worked in this field; so [...]
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Britain’s Debt Downgrade – A Lesson for the US
May 22nd, 2009 · 1 Comment · Bailout, Banks, Corporate Power, Economy, Federal Reserve, Financial
The unrestrained efforts of the Obama administration to rescue and reinflate the financial sector of the US (at the expense of taxpayers and savers) are the most discouraging aspect of his administration. These efforts are apparently based on the belief that what is good for investment banks is good for America.
Martin Wolf, a columnist [...]
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Whose Running the Ship?
April 23rd, 2009 · No Comments · Banks, Corporate Power, Economics, Taxpayers
This cartoon (thanks to Ritholtz) conveys the sense of powerlessness many feel in the present circumstances, where the political power of the financial institutions and corporations appears to be making the government their hand maiden.
To be more accurate, there should be several lifeboats in the scene, in front of “Free Market”, labeled “Taxpayers” and [...]
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Obama Redeems Himself
March 30th, 2009 · No Comments · Bailout, Banks, Bonds, Corporate Power, Credit Default Swaps, Debt, Federal Reserve, Financial, Interest rates, Obama, Policy, Restructuring, Treasury, Video, Wall Street
In a recent post on the latest bank bailout plan, I took President Obama to task for not using the opportunity afforded by the dire financial straits of the banks to reduce their political and economic influence. I said,
[I hoped that] Obama would bring a fresh perspective to managing our economy, one that would [...]
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