Paul Volcker spoke at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank on September 23rd, as part of a symposium co-sponsored by the IMF.He said:The financial system is broken. We can use that term in late 2008, and I think it’s fair to still use the term unfortuna…
Posts Tagged ‘Paul Volcker’
Volcker: “The Financial System is Broken” and “the Mortgage Market Has Become a Subsidiary of the U.S. Government”
October 1st, 2010 |
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Can the Financial Reform Bill Fix the Economy?
July 17th, 2010 |
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Preface: If you’ve been too busy to pay attention to the details, and if you’re hoping that the financial reform bill which has just been passed will fix the economy, this essay will bring you up to date. Congress, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernan…
Banking Industry Insiders Call for Breaking Up Giant Banks
April 7th, 2010 |
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Virtually all independent financial experts are demanding that the too big to fail banks be broken up, including:Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph StiglitzNobel prize-winning economist, Ed PrescottFormer Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich Chairman of…
Volcker: Raise Taxes to Curb the Deficit
April 7th, 2010 |
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Paul Volcker says that the U.S. will probably need to raise taxes to curb the deficit.Specifically, at a speech to the New York Historical Society, Volcker said that America should consider imposing a “value added tax” – a type of national sales tax us…
Dodd’s Financial “Reform” Bill Is Nothing but a Placebo for a Very Sick Economy
March 30th, 2010 |
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On March 3rd, Richard Fisher – President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas – told the Council on Foreign Relations:A truly effective restructuring of our regulatory regime will have to neutralize what I consider to be the greatest threat to our fin…
Broken Incentives: “People See What They’re Incentivized to See. If You Pay Someone Not to See the Truth, They Won’t See the Truth.â€
March 15th, 2010 |
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Upton Sinclair said:It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.Bestselling financial writer Michael Lewis is now saying the same thing. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Lewis said:Wall St…
13 Congress Members Write to FDIC Chair Regarding Executive Compensation
February 9th, 2010 |
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This was sent to me by a contact in Congress.The FDIC has an open comment period for a rule they are considering to tie insurance deposit premiums to executive compensation structures. 13 members of Congress are sending the following letter to the FDI…
Larry Summers Is Like a Guy Who Yells That the Sun Really DOES Revolve Around the Earth and that the Current Orbit is Just a Temporary Aberration
December 14th, 2009 |
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Two leading White House economic advisors – Larry Summers and Christina Romer – are giving very different views on the economy.As Fox news summarizes: “Everybody agrees that the recession is over,” said Larry Summers, director of the National Economic…
The Fed’s “Independence” Argument Is False
December 14th, 2009 |
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The House has passed a bill to audit the Federal Reserve. 79% of the American people support a full audit.In response, the Fed says that an audit would interfere with its “independence”. However, the Constitution does not empower a central bank. And C…
Volcker: There’s No Growth Other Than What The Fed’s Pouring Into The Economy
December 14th, 2009 |
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Here is an interesting excerpt from an interview of Paul Volcker by Spiegel this weekend: SPIEGEL: The US has not yet instituted any kind of reform policy. What we see is the government and the Federal Reserve pouring money into the economy. If one loo…
Giant Banks Are Trying to Make Bailouts Permanent. They’ll Succeed Unless We Raise a Ruckus
December 10th, 2009 |
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According to the following Democratic and Republican congress members, economists, financial experts and journalists, the “too big to fails” (with help from bank-friendly voices in Congress) are trying to make the bailouts permanent: Congressman Brad S…
“By All Relevant Debt Indicators, the US Fiscal Scenario Will Soon Approximate [that of] Countries on the Verge of a Sovereign Debt Defaultâ€
November 5th, 2009 |
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Josh Lipton points out:The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) published a paper indicating that “by all relevant debt indicators, the US fiscal scenario will soon approximate the economic scenario for countries on the verg…
Government Is Trying to Make Bailouts for the Giant Banks PERMANENT
October 28th, 2009 |
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On September 25th, I wrote:Paul Volcker and senior Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron both testified to Congress this week that the government is trying to make bailouts for the giant banks permanent.Writing Wednesday in The Hill, Congressman Brad Sherma…
Should We Give the Fed More Power … Or Less?
October 28th, 2009 |
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Congress is suggesting that the Fed be given more powers, making it the chief risk regulator of the entire banking system.Specifically, as summarized by Huffington Post, a new bill introduced by Democrats in Congress “gives the Federal Reserve the powe…
Derivatives Are Inherently Destabilizing for the Financial System Because they Increase Interconnectivity
September 29th, 2009 |
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Many smart people have said that credit default swaps destabilize the financial system. See this and this.But there is yet another reason – one perhaps even more fundamental – why CDS are inherently destabilizing to our economy.Remember, one of the re…
Taleb: “Complex Derivatives … Should Not Trade”
September 28th, 2009 |
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According to Bloomberg, Nassim Nicholas Taleb said today:To curb volatility in financial markets some financial products “should not trade,†including complex derivatives … While products such as options are acceptable, he still doesn’t underst…
Congressman Sherman: “Geithner’s Proposal is ‘TARP on Steroids’ “
September 25th, 2009 |
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Paul Volcker and senior Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron both testified to Congress this week that the government is trying to make bailouts for the giant banks permanent.Writing Wednesday in The Hill , Congressman Brad Sherman pointed out that :In my …
Senior Harvard and Cato Economist: Government is Proposing to Institutionalize Bailouts for the Giant Banks
September 24th, 2009 |
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Jeffrey Miron will testify today at 9 am east coast time before the House Committee on Financial Services.Miron is the Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard, and also a Senior Fellow at the Cato…
Volcker: Don’t Use Taxpayer Money to Prop Up Anything But Traditional Depository Banking Functions
September 18th, 2009 |
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While many people have called for the giant, insolvent banks to be broken up, Paul Volcker argues for a different approach: making sure that the taxpayers aren’t paying for their speculative activities which lie outside of traditional depository bankin…