Category: Banks

Michael Barone asks the right questions, we offer the right answer
If Republicans had three House members or one Senator as smart as Michael the GOP would be unstoppable this fall.
No such luck.
Barone, writing today, on financial reform is right on all three points he raises in his piece.
First, Republicans must offer their own agenda [...]

A couple days ago we had a piece up on National Review Online.  Professor Arnold Kling and Nicole Gelinas  both comented on it.�
Mr. Kling was off to such a great start, and then without warning he’s just gone plain silly.
Some of his confusion is unsurprising. Everyone, but everyone who comments on the crisis seems to [...]

Your investment advisor likely puts together your portfolio in the same way the busted banks put together their own portfolios of mortgage-backed securities
In Part I we talked about the first big idea that your investment advisor probably shares with your banker, especially if your bank is one of the big important ones that almost blew [...]

This Sunday, New York Times Magazine is publishing a story titled: HEADING OFF THE NEXT FINANCIAL CRISIS (Hat tip Mike Allen at Politico). In the piece New York Times economics columnist David Leonhardt looks at the idea of preventing the next financial crisis, or at least making it less damaging. He includes a conversation he [...]

Listen right here to Richard Vigilante on Business for Breakfast, explaining the ongoing problems with our financial systems – and the reason we’ll see more market crashes in our lifetimes:
Gabcast! Richard Vigilante on Business for Breakfast

Ok, let’s take the Dodd bill point by point, using the summary written by Dodd’s own committee staff.�
1)Creates “a strong consumer protection watchdog” which though housed in the Fed will be able to “autonomously write rules for consumer protection.”�
Dodd’s justification: “The economic crisis was driven by an across-the-board failure to protect consumers”�
Our Take: Imprudent “pro-consumer” [...]

There will be other financial disasters – and just as Andrew Redleaf predicted the last one more than a year before it happened, the next one will be both predictable and avoidable. Find out how by reading Panic.

Listen right here to streaming audio of Richard Vigilante on the Dennis Miller Show, talking about governmental involvement in the financial collapse:

The whitewash of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has to be numbered among the most successful spin operations of our time. Within days of the market collapse in September ‘08, both Senator Dodd and Representative Frank were marching stooges up to Capitol Hill to testify that Fannie and Freddie—virtually run by the congressional committees chaired [...]

Andrew Redleaf and Richard Vigilante column that appeared on RealClearMarkets.