Two Old Wall-Street Hands: "Nothing Has Really Been Fixed"

New York Times:

WHETHER at a fund-raising dinner for wealthy supporters in Beverly Hills, or at an Air Force base in Nevada, or at Charlie Rose's table in New York City, President Obama is conducting an all-out campaign to try to make us feel a whole lot better about the economy as quickly as possible. "It's safe to say we have stepped back from the brink, that there is some calm that didn't exist before," he told donors at the Beverly Hilton Hotel late last month. [...]

We have both spent large chunks of our lives working on Wall Street, absorbing its ethic and mores. We're concerned that nothing has really been fixed. We're doubly concerned that people appear to feel the worst of the storm is over -- and in this, they are aided and abetted by a hugely popular and charismatic president and by the fact that the Dow has increased by 35 percent or so since Mr. Obama started to lay out his economic plans in March.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[BurtonOerney]

Wow! I had no idea there were so many Austrian school libertarians reading the Huffington Post!

Small excerpt from the article:

"If that means more bank failures on a grander scale or the dismemberment of Citigroup, so be it. Depositors will be protected — up to $250,000 per account — but shareholders, creditors and, sadly, many employees will, for the long-term health of the system, need to feel the market’s wrath."

[robeson]

If the perps who turned manure into gold, (sub-prime into AAA) are not indicted and convicted, we will be back here very quickly.

[BurtonOerney]

Who are these 'perps?'

[research]

The fraudulent investment Insurance scammers, AIG jpMorgon the conservatives who deregulated the economy (and I include the DLC in that).

The Banksters, as FDR called them.

[AndyWright68]

Obama could have easily cleaned up the mess months ago. If he would have stopped spending, brought home the troops, eliminated wasteful government departments and programs and eliminated the income tax things would have been better by now. Instead he made it worse by continuing Bush's policies and spending trillions putting our country closer than it has ever been to being bankrupt. Then you followers put down Bush and support Obama when he is doing the same thing Bush did. Wake up!

[JoeBlough]

And what is your alternative? You got a better leader someplace?

[Slick88]

Not that the media would allow us to elect.

[AndyWright68]

I personally know only 10 to 20 people who could do a better job. The chances of them getting the job are slim due to the MSM's control over public opinion. The job is not that difficult. We just need to get these wealthy career politicians out of Washington and return this government to the people.

[research]

I not happy with the way Obama seems to be continuing several BushCo mistakes, but he is not Bush, by a long shot, and hopefully this all part of a necessary plan to achieve better results.

[efdcapt115]

Clicked the NYT article with interest. It started out pretty well, until I got to the disclaimer that one of the authors had been convicted for stock manipulation and later pardoned by an outgoing President. End of credibility, end of story, end of reading it.
Can't read the article anymore with the cloud of that stain over one of the author's credibility. Pardons usually are a last minute act done by a President headout out the back door of The White House, and IMO are usually bought somehow or gained by political favor.

[JoeBlough]

NYT is a right-wing publication, right?

[BurtonOerney]

"If that means more bank failures on a grander scale or the dismemberment of Citigroup, so be it. Depositors will be protected — up to $250,000 per account — but shareholders, creditors and, sadly, many employees will, for the long-term health of the system, need to feel the market’s wrath."

Yes, let's protect the libertarian economic philosophy at the expence of employees and share holders. Imagine the ridicule Sarah Palin would receive if she said this.

[westcoastsc]

The problem is that nobody is talking jail time.

[BurtonOerney]

Jail time for whom?

[Tyler-Durden]

it's really amazing how these people say it's all Obama's fault for not fixing it fast enough.

THEY created the mess, THEY continue to lobby Congress to manipulate law in their interest, yet somehow it's Obama's fault.

Its not shocking, because they are greedy bastards that crashed the world economy for their personal interests.

WHAT IS SHOCKING, is that people get right on board with their lies. The truth is so plainly obvious, but people keep on spouting it's Obama's fault. it's sad.

[AContrario]

Few months ago this headline would have had me fuming and leaving
vitriolic posts all over HuffPo, to rant about the fallacies and biases on
which Obama's economic team has buillt his strategy to solve this
financial and economic mess but I realized that there is no point in doing
so and the best thing to do, is to kick back and enjoy the show while
the masters of the universe show us how to save the world and ...fail.

Don't get me wrong Mr.Preside­nt,I want you to succeed but your economic
decisions have been subpar at best, in comparison with your political and
social nous.

It d be only after Lawrence Summers and Tim Geithner brought America
economy to its knees that Americans will be ready to listen to alternatives
that sounded too utopian yesterday.

And one question why Democrats are so rubbish in making sound economic
or financial decisions that support their liberal views? Republicans or the
right-wing has always managed to con people into believing that they want
everybody to have a slice of the pie,even though History has shown us it never
happened and it will never happen but people still vote for them.

In this situation,Democrats have the higher ground but they still want to show
to Wall st how that they are all grown up now when it comes down to finance and
economy.

For Christ's sake, Wall St put us into this mess and we still want to wow them!!!

[linton]

I watched bits and pieces of ‘Houses of Cards’ on MSNBC last night (Sunday night)
It was very revealing and it is sad what some on Wall St. allowed to happen.
Of course, GREED and instant wealth coupled with people who wanted things they knew they could not afford and their inability to read and ask the right questions made it easier for the lions to prey on their victims.

[VivaZapata]

what's sadder is the devaluation of the dollar which lowers the standard of living for all of us joe shmoes. that wall street increase of 35% also represents how much more we're paying at the supermarket.

we should be aware that items like ipods should have lowered their prices considerably since the cost of making them is ridiculously low, and people find themselves with a lot less spending cash, but this has not been the case.

wall street played the public, and we all were forced to listen to those sour notes, like elementary school kids at a bad recital.

[BurtonOerney]

You're advocating for deflation? The authors of this article - Austrian school libertarians, by the way - said we were in a deflationary cycle. That makes me wonder when this was actually written. Deflation was predicted in January. Hyperinflation was predicted in February. We have no indication of either right now.

[AndyWright68]

The government since Clinton has been pressuring lenders to give risky loans then guaranteed them. Stop blaming the borrowers and Wall St. They took advantage of easy money supplied by the government. You can blame them for a very small part but the biggest problem was the politicians trying to make themselves look good by getting more Americans homes.

[VivaZapata]

The September surprise should have convinced you that our government acts at the behest of wall street and not the other way around.

[NevadaPatriot]

I have been saying nothing has been fixed forever. Obama seems uncapable or unwilling to address root causes of the problem. Obama needs to grow a pair of CAJONES and stand up to Wall Street. No more money for banks. Time to prosecute, people need to go to jail. I'd start with Blankfein from GS he is a real crook and probably partially responsible for letting Bear go down.

Also, Obama needs to start focusing on HELPING THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THAT VOTED FOR HIM AND NOT THE GREEDY PIGS ON WALL STREET.

What will it take for politicians to start listening and helping the people.

Mass civil unrest like Rodney King X 4. Is this that what needs to happen. Does America need a revolution?

[Humanistic]

The questions asked by the authors about why the culprits in this debacle have not been identified, is easily answered: they are protected by high-priced lawyers who cite confidentiality non-disclosure agreements and such. The culture of collusion demands that everyone involved remain mute and pretend to cooperate with the authorities (who are obliquely part of their establishment).

No mention here of the fact that many of the top dogs belong to a certain "unnamed" ethnic group which has a financial lock on Congress AND the White House (as well as on the public through their lending policies). Letting that out to the public and the world at large, might inflame "anti-you-­know-what" sentiment. Better to just sweep it under the rug and hope the American people don't discover the truth.

Bankers, hedge fund managers, lawyers, accountants, CEOs -- having reaped windfalls from a rigged and unregulated system, will always find ways to manipulate it to their advantage, using money as the ultimate leverage to lobby and influence (and coerce) Congress and the White House. Significant reforms are impossible. Health Care reform, for example, is doomed to fail, just as Credit Card reform fell so far short of the objective.

The promises of Change by Candidate Obama and his Democrat supporters have run up against the immutable power of those who really run the country and hold the lion's share of the wealth. Further proof that Democracy is but an illusion that temporarily placates us "little people".

[R2D2-51]

Could not have said it better. Bravo! Fanned.

[WeMustSpeakOut]

Thank you. Well stated. You are right on the money.

Numerous sideshows will continue to be staged for us "little people" as the illusion and deception continues. The majority are easily fooled.

[verycold]

You are naive. Obama hand picked the same thugs that got us into this mess. He chose them long before he got into office and got to see and feel reality first hand. He is a seasoned politician from THE MOST corrupt state in the US and the MOST corrupt city. He knows the score. He is in fact in step with all those thugs you speak about above.

The only one that really defies the establishment is Ron Paul and nobody listened to him during the campaign. Republican and democrats may strongly disagree how to get to Rome, but they like the political process the way it is. It is all they know. Ron Paul is probably one of the few that doesn't fit in and thus he doesn't have political clout behind him. It is a rigged system.

This article clearly points out the hypocrisy from this administration regarding transparency and change.

Please also note how much cronyism is still in place with this administration. Look to see who all is being appointed as ambassadors. Please look to see who all is getting the czar positions which btw do not need congressional approval for any actions they take as long as their boss, president Obama, agrees. Please also note their salaries are confidential.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED except the players.

[kingbuzz]

paul is whack-O. some good ideas some not so good. kucinich 2012.

[JoeBlough]

"NOTHING HAS CHANGED except the players" - at least we don't have Bush/Cheney. That's a feel-good.

[kingbuzz]

word.

[SSF]

Aren't these "Wall Street veterans" the same guys who screwed up the economy in the first place? Some "experts"!

[johnsonc20]

No. Try looking at the careers of Summers and Geithner if you want to find "guys who screwed up the economy in the first place." These are "experts" Obama hired to protect the banksters and continue to hold our economy hostage to the obscene profits of Wall Street cheats.

[unscum]

Number one, it's the NYT op ed column.

Number two, never trust someone who works on Wall street.

[betterus]

Watch "Bulworth" may help...

[moUSAnMe]

pot calling the kettle black

[mharg11]

Wow, now they are criticizing people for having some confidence restored in the economy. If Pres. O can increase our confidence, which he has, that is a huge beginning over the last guy.I guess the NYT would prefer the Henny Penny method, yell the sky is falling.

I noticed his hair is graying on all sides now. With 4.5 months of dealing with this mess, it is understandable. And every little crack pot out there taking their shots at him, because they don't want the mess to be cleaned up. No one might remember their ronnie if the country is really hitting on all cylinders and we have a strong and happy middle class. To them, Heaven Forbid.

[johnsonc20]

People had enormous confidence in our economy as we dug ourselves into this hole. Confidence doesn't change facts. We are still in a deep hole and won't get out until we recognize that and stop digging.