By now all the world knows is how big Wall Street is and how they can make or break an economy…..and recently they broke the whole damn thing!
And because they, Wall Street, was too big to fail….there is a growing attitude in Washington that these little turds need to be more accountable for their actions….something they are fighting tooth and nail to avoid…..
It all began (I think) with Sen, Cantwell…..as reported in the Huffington Post:
Morning Meeting, Dylan Ratigan brought on Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to discuss the ongoing attempts to achieve a measure of financial reform, so that the widespread systemic failures of “too big to fail” banking institutions that cratered the economy maybe don’t happen again. Cantwell went off: “The shenanigans just began here in Washington.” Cantwell continued, “What is moving through on the House side is a bill that supposedly has a new rule, but has so many loopholes that the loophole eats the rule. We want to say we have transparency and regulation, but it will continue to have loopholes.”At issue were some specific holes in the Defense against Wall Street’s Dark Arts. First: no government oversight of which derivatives get traded on open, transparent exchanges. Instead of the SEC or other regulators making decisions on what goes on the exchange, the exchange would be overseen by banks, who are strongly incentivized to keep derivatives off of exchanges, where they make less money.
And all the hoopla has not stopped there…..as reported in the WSJ:
A key House panel voted Wednesday to give government the power to break up large financial firms whose collapse might threaten the broader economy, despite aggressive lobbying by major financial institutions to kill the measure.The amendment illustrates how some lawmakers are willing to go beyond the authority sought by the White House — which stopped short of giving regulators power to break up healthy firms — in the redrawing of the financial world’s regulatory framework.
A divided House Financial Services Committee voted 38-29 to approve an amendment offered by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D, Penn.) that would allow a council of regulators to determine whether factors including the size or interconnectedness of an individual firm pose “a grave threat to the United States.” Such a firm could be prohibited from merging with another firm or be required to sell business units or assets.
The amendment is part of a broader legislative overhaul of financial-sector rules pending in Congress. If enacted, the government would have the authority to act aggressively to deal with a systemically risky failure before problems become too unwieldy.
All in all a good start at controlling the runaway theft of Wall Street…but will it succeed? Most likely it will not…..Wall Street has “friends” in Washington…all of whom are bought and paid for….these “friends” will not allow Wall Street to lose any of their clout…..
The beast of Wall Street has been allowed to run free for way too long to try and domesticate it now……it may get those trying some votes back home but it will do little to control or tame Wall Street….
It’s a good theory, but (like the greenhouse effect) it is pretty well impossible to take all the relevant factors into account.
As one simple instance: What do any of us know about what money and “favours” are passed between the hugely wealthy and powerful people and corporations? So, regulation will just push previously more or less open deals further behind the seens. On top of that (but part of the same point) it is difficult to envision these days even a whole board of regulators that these shadowy elite figures couldn’t “buy” or so finacially threaten as to at least colour their decisions.
It’ll just turn out to be a whole new ball of red tape that will be no more than a waste of money and a further hinderance to ordinary people gaining access to real wealth. To put it another way, it will probably simply help to ensure that the elite stay that way – elite! 👿
The Glass-Steagall Act was a good place to start…but thanx to Clinton and his band of merry men…the whole economic thing came into being……they removed almost all barriers and allowed the derivative thing to take off in a big way……
But then the wealthy will ALWAYS hold all the cards and they will always push for de-regulation. If you don’t give it to them, then they’ll move somewhere else in the world that lets them behave as they wish.
If you don’t want all the wealth to move away from the US/UK/EU, you can’t do much about it…
These guys are in control and we’re all screwed. It’s just a fact. In my view, regulation NEVER works – not least because the regulatees (if there is such a word) are always smarter and more devious and innovative than the regulators. That’s simply always going to be a fact because the wealthy have all the money to buy better brains than the government (and most bureaucrats are puffed-up, self-important, self-seeking and stupid people anyway – a bit like their political masters).
I think that a degree of regs is needed….like insurance companies that are immune to anti-trust laws……so they can set about screwing the people without having to answer for it…..you have hit the nail on the head……greed can find away around just about any law…….maybe it is bureaucrats we need to crucify……
Aha! NOW you’re talking!!! 😈
In case you missed it…..lol…..after about a century of reading and writing I have run across just about every good quote possible…..many are favs…but some are more accurate than others….like the one from de Tocqueville:
“There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.”
Pretty much sums up the US political scene……
Yeah – the question is HOW many? A: not a lot (as in the UK too) 😆
We here in the US have limitless amounts of politicians but we have NO statesmen….and that is sad….
Is this a blogengine blog? I really like the layout you have, I’d like to start my blog with a similar feel to yours.
Nope…I am just the usual wordpress blog….try it….they have many different themes…I am sure you can find one you like….thanx for the visit and stop by as often as you can…..