Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
The Obama government has rationalised its failure to prosecute anyone (literally, anyone at all) for bubble-related crimes by saying that while much of Wall St's behaviour was unwise or unethical, it wasn't illegal. What rubbish
"Dimon argued that the financial system could be trusted; that the near-meltdown of 2008 was a perfect storm that would never happen again." Well, it doesn't look that way now, after he was forced to announce huge trading losses
In 2010 Obama passed Dodd-Frank, 2,300 pages of regulation with which to end Wall Street corruption. But world of finance fought back, soon brought government to heel. How? Simple: Complain, sue, stall, bully, then exploit loopholes
Bankers' pay is too high by a factor of three. Which is bad for banks, politically and economically. "By failing to handle a business problem at the proper time, the boards of banks have turned it into a wider social issue" ($)
Excellent, authoritative and measured overview of today's economic ills. Much papering-over of cracks in past few decades. Status quo ante not a good place to return to. So here are some suggestions for ways forward (PDF)
Financial sector and rentier partners captured gains, then spent part of these gains on acquiring powerful voice in political process. In courts and academia too. This sacrificing of economies to creditors should be reversed (PDF)
For those whose time is short, he is an elegant summary of Hudson's paper (linked to above) explaining why financial sector creditors should be forced to give up some of the gains they have captured, sought to legitimise
Adam Smith mentioned it once, but didn't seem to set much store by it. Lesser and later economists have tried to show that market forces lead inexorably towards optimal equilibria, but without success. Markets are unstable
"Financial innovation can make our responses to catastrophes more intelligent. It can channel our gambling impulses into something more constructive and make speculative bubbles less of a problem." It could even reduce inequality
An eye-opening listicle. Try this for starters: "The number of Americans who don't have health insurance: 49.9 million." Not surprised? Well, how about this: "Americans age 60 and older owe $36bn in student loans"
We're not in the habit of recommending financial reports but this shareholder message is worth reading. Not the start, just from page 13 of the PDF, paragraph titled "Reflections On The State Of Banking And The Leadership Crisis"
Scholarly 12-page PDF, so save for a quiet moment, but do read. In brief: The best way to stop banks collapsing is to make their owners and managers personally liable for the consequences. The captain goes down with the ship
Barney Frank, on JP Morgan's $2bn trading loss
"JP Morgan Chase, entirely without any help from the government has lost, in this one set of transactions, five times the amount they claim financial regulation is costing them"
