Krugman: Not Clear That Obama Is Ready To "Take On The Bankers"

New York Times :

In the grim period that followed Lehman's failure, it seemed inconceivable that bankers would, just a few months later, be going right back to the practices that brought the world's financial system to the edge of collapse. At the very least, one might have thought, they would show some restraint for fear of creating a public backlash. [...]

The good news is that senior officials in the Obama administration and at the Federal Reserve seem to be losing patience with the industry's selfishness. The bad news is that it's not clear whether President Obama himself is ready, even now, to take on the bankers.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[S1m0n]

Good. Reforming medical insurance and dealing with climate change are both higher priorities, and even those two might be too much at once. Add a third and none of them will happen at all.

Redesigning the world's financial markets from the ground up isn't a thing that can be done off the side of a desk in the president's free moments, and isn't something that should be done in a hurry at all. President Obama is wise to opt for the minimum necessary reform to get things moving again, while the rest of his agenda moves forward.

[1088]

Congress has to be the one to pass reform and an investigation. They don't want to, because they are all in the pocket of banks and wall street. The republicans are in the pocket of all Corporations.

[M1]

If Obama drags his heels too long on reforming the financial system, the American people may start a revolt on their own by refusing to pay unfair interest rates on credit cards and mortgages.

The banks pay 0% on their borrowed fed money and are sitting on billions of free tarp money but have continued to jack up the interest rates on credit cards and refuse to give loan modifications to 87% of the qualified applicants.

[duxguts]

I hate to say this but I think Obama is going to be a one term President. Everyone is ripping off the average American and we see no leadership coming from the WH. When I look back at the election campaign I had so much hope.

[Manx]

After watching the feckless way Obama has handled the health-care reform issue, I don't think he is in a position to take on anyone. He aspires to be another Lincoln or FDR but so far, he's been more like Calvin Coolidge.

[nastywolf]

After abandoning his key Public Option supporters, Obama won't be able to find any anyone in Congress to stand beside him in a fight with any special interest. The Im-POTUS shot his last wad on health care.

[jmpurser]

I think you may be right. As Reagan led to Bush II who committed the Iraq war and killed the GOP so Clinton led to Obama who tried to kill health care reform and in so doing killed the Democratic party.

We need another party and we need it before 2010.

[murphy80]

but it is clear that Obama plans to take on no one and no issue.

all his talk and meetings are but a charade right out of the bush adm playbook

he has wasted this year.

[JaneK13]

Take on the bankers??? Americans, now suffering with "buyers' remorse," aren't sure he was even ready to take on the presidency.

[1088]

What buyers remorse? Do you think you're dealing with fools here? Go and look at President Obama's record and see the amount of stuff he has pass this year.......Go!

[jmpurser]

I'm bitterly disappointed in Obama but I'd still vote for him ahead of Clinton or McCain.

Personally I'm planning on voting for a 3rd party if Obama is the Democratic nominee in 2012.

[jmpurser]

I think Obama is waiting for "the market" to magically fix itself. Either for reasons of ideology or convenience he's decided not to reform anything and hope for the best.

Not the kind of change I can believe in. Or vote for ever again.

[1088]

The market has turned around and my 401k and retirement has ticked back up and then some, thank you! Thanks to President Obama!!

[anothervoice2]

Great for you.
There are others still stuck.
President Obama does not need mere adulation now.
He needs to hear from his base that he can't take them for granted come 2012. So far his accomplishments reflect just "low hanging fruit".

[pedernales]

Why is Obama constantly sucking up to these gamblers? The banksters are creating risk and huge debt for which they take huge fees and create nothing. There is no "banking" about it. The role of a bank is to finance a market of ideas and common enterprise. By now deep regulation to separate the banksters from their gambling both at home and off shore should have already been taking place. What does Obama's capitulation to the shallow, pathological interests that wrecked our economy say about his real understanding of the lives of ordinary citizens. Is there something seriously wrong with this guy?

[mioffe]

OK, I understand your "banksters" point, but why Investor Warren Buffett is also in the same boat?
I think you have very primitive picture of our economy, the same as our Government and Paul Krugman.
It is real problems.

[AtheistUS]

If Perernales has "very primitive picture of our economy, the same as our Government and Paul Krugman" - then at least he can congratulate himself in combining a few minds.

I do not see why you react so negatively on suggestions to place stronger regulations on banks. After all, that is what Krugman (and Perernales) are talking about right now.

On other your comment your words were "We need more scientists, engineers, and inventors, less bankers and economists." - and Obama himself mentioned this a few times, and I completely agree. One of very good side effects of stronger regulations on banks will be drop of compensations of statisticians, software engineers and managers in financial industry to the same or almost same level as compensation in any other (usually more useful) industry - here we go, that is a return to something normal, that would be a nice clear indicator that something returns to normal.

Regulations on banks does not mean a primitive view of economy, this is a take on one problem, yes, not on all problems at once, but this is a useful take.

[1088]

Go tell it to the Congress! They need to pass legislation to go after the banks!

[republicrat1]

EXPLOSIVE NEW AUDIO Reveals White House Using NEA to Push Partisan Agenda
by Patrick Courrielche
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/09/21/explosive-new-audio-reveals-white-house-using-nea-to-push-partisan-agenda/

[jmpurser]

Obama hasn't used a majority in the house and senate to push a partisan agenda so why in the world would he use the NEA to do so?

Tinfoil hat alert.

[dillydawg]

Krugman, HP's favorite palm reader. Wake me when he is right about something.

[anothervoice2]

You must be wide awake then. His piece captured the WH waffling on financial regulatory reform accurately.

[bostongreen]

,How many Nobel Prizes have you won? You're just a silly person with a silly dog picture as your avatar. You're a nobody.

[mioffe]

Why our bankers did risky businesses?
Why they put money in cars and housing industries?
What all of them are crooks and stupid?

It will be to primitive to think so!

Please name any others directions, where money could work and bring profit without bubbles?

Our companies made profit from globalization and still make it.
But other side of globalization is cheaper work forces for every product.

What we have in our ideas to prevail this situation is more important than blame bankers, corruption in Government, etc?

We need new ideas, not money and Government intervention.
We need blame all our economy, not only monetary parts of it.
What we need to do in globalization to take it fruits, not result for unprepared nation?

[hglindquist]

Or maybe some old ideas that work ... like using the stimulus to achieve zero unemployment by building the infrastructure we OBVIOUSLY need in the near-future (it's a no-brainer, really) that breeds new and/or improved products ... as Eisenhower did with the Federal Highway System.

[mioffe]

I prefer to think that our transportation systems are relict of previous century and building infrastructure for relicts systems is wasting of money and our work forces in wrong directions.

[zull2]

I would have actually kept reading this article if Krugman had gone on to say "Obama is not ready, he must be trained in the Dagobah system under the watchful eye of Noam Chomsky". Otherwise, it's just Krugman blowing up his superiority complex.

[mioffe]

It is economy stupid!
Think that economy is only monetary economy is absolutely stupid!

[factotem]

Gee, ya think?
It's been a year ....and nothing done to Wall Street miscreants.

[Swampfish]

Maybe he just don't have the guts to do anything.But moreover,It seems to me he is a Corporatist,He has kept most or all of those who were in position to sound the siren on Wall street "shenanigans" but kept silence.And as a result American Tax payers were the ones who had to come up with monies to save the floundering financial sector.

So the folks who were part of the scam,found high level jobs in the Administration.