Category: Uncategorized

David Brooks Joins Morgenson in Noticing the Real Problem with Dodd/Frank
Who regulates the regulators?
In the wake of Gretchen Morgenson’s terrific column yesterday we just didn’t think the New York Times could ever make us happier. Then they do it again. I won’t rehash David’s column here. Go read it.
We will just say that on the [...]

For Gretchen Morgenson to come right out and say, at length and in detail, that the current approach to financial reform is mostly a reaffirmation of the status quo is a huge development. Morgenson is respected by everyone (she is also the single-most-quoted source in PANIC). It will be very hard to represent opposition to [...]

Republicans should not obstruct the Dodd/Frank bill and align themselves with the defenders of the megabanks. They should ask for one little thing in return for their support; better markets. President Obama in his speech lined up behind Dodd, Frank and the misguided belief that regulators can actually grasp what the megabanks are [...]

Frank Luntz is a smart guy and a great “messager” but neither skill was required to state the obvious: The Dodd bill like the Frank bill massively reaffirms the status quo: regulators and bankers behind closed doors deciding which bank practices are safe and sound and which are risky and [...]

Democrat Solutions? Republican Solutions? Let’s have both.
The President’s speech was a lot like the Dodd and Frank bills themselves. To the extent one believes that regulators numbering, practically speaking, in the dozens for any one of these giant firms, can actually get a firm grasp on what the megabanks are doing, [...]

Richard was on with a Christian radio host, Craig Roberts (KFAX, San Francisco) last night, pitching our full disclosure, no-more-secret-banking proposal. Show went well. Then two minutes after Richard gets off the air the KFAX producer calls him and says, “Craig loves the idea so much that he’s come up with a slogan for you: [...]

PANIC coauthor Richard Vigilante talked to Fox Business:

Are the plaintiffs in the Goldman case crybabies?
Snippet: “What was Goldman supposed to disclose: that the guy on the short side was smarter — like way, way, way smarter — than Goldman’s clients on the long side?”
Read the rest on The Corner at NRO.

Snip: Our “proposal for tougher financial regulation…sounds interesting and is very much worth reading.” But he does quibble with our “overtoughly tough” words for Frank and Dodd.
Check it out here.