http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAdP3tUMTdVE âCapital requirements reduce, but not eliminate, the need for taxpayers to provide catastrophe insurance,â King said. He added it is âhard to see whyâ proposals such as those of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to separate proprietary trading from retail banking are âimpractical.â
You have to keep in mind that Good Ol' Merv the Swerve has a vested interest in these debates... He might be right in this case, but, realistically, he ain't as warm and fuzzy as he wants to appear.
Indeed. Nonetheless, bringing back Glass-Steagall and repealing the GrammâLeachâBliley Act would still be a sensible approach objectively. If only politicians have the courage to face up to their mistakes...
If only politicians had the courage to do ANYthing they weren't being paid to do or being paid to stifle.
Agree... I think Volcker and Merv are are, in fact, voices of reason. My fear is that we've missed the moment.
The current set of Polycons helped to remove Glass-Steagall.... Also the current set of Polycons are the ones who either created or did not see the problems.... The US elects to keep these people around ????? ............................................................................. The Remedy.... Re-Enact Glass-Steagall.... Change the tax system to 10/5 Ctax only....no other taxes Removes the IRS....allows US to compete with BRIC....raises revenues.... State mandates only....removes the lobbyist system.... De-fragment the exchanges.....establish first come first served ....same cost all electronic direct access exchange.....with size limitations....all asset classes.....electronically regulated.....removes the SEC.... Then the US enters a new Renaissance....labor shortages, etc....
And here we go. Gordon strikes back: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...s-suggestion-that-banks-need-breaking-up.html
Gordon strikes back - Brown was wrong in the first assertion. Are the English and the Americans sane ? Your banks received an injection of $100 million hot money : debit reserves - $100 mn ; credit Japanese deposit - $100 mn. debit "pointer-to-void" assets - $900 mn; credit "hhmm how should ..." temp a/c - $900 mn. Brown was illogical in the second assertion. How can anyone be found capable to write a report on a recommendation to regulate Collateralized Debt Obligations, Credit Default Swaps, etc. so the big boys can understand and decide how to regulate when at most only 1 in 50 of ET economics experts here may be able to understand a thing or two. But I can! Just outlaw everything that's tough on the brain at first reading.
That fella is a piece of work. At least Volcker remembers the days before deregulation and is one of the few who knows what is at stake.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/opinion/l23volcker.html?_r=2 To the Editor: Re âVolckerâs Voice, Often Heeded, Fails to Sell a Bank Strategyâ (front page, Oct. 21): As another older banker and one who has experienced both the pre- and post-Glass-Steagall world, I would agree with Paul A. Volcker (and also Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England) that some kind of separation between institutions that deal primarily in the capital markets and those involved in more traditional deposit-taking and working-capital finance makes sense. This, in conjunction with more demanding capital requirements, would go a long way toward building a more robust financial sector. John S. Reed New York, Oct. 21, 2009