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 [...]
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.
Here is our response to Nicole Gelinas:
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 [...]
Please check out our column featured today on NRO.
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 [...]
Health Care Bill Passes
Think “medical tourism”!
Samuelson rides his hobby horse but makes good points on Greenspan
Samuelson, like most guys with big idea, wants to fit everything into it these days. But it is his defenses of Greenspan that are most interesting. We used to be always attacking the fellow back in his maestro days, but [...]
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” [...]
Forget how sleazy this is. How stupid is it than someone with this kind of access is BUYING AIG in January 2008. Just goes to show how hopeless any regulatory solution is. This woman, along with Dodd himself, has privileged access to the best information available to the government. She is chief counsel to the [...]
