Simon Johnson: Regulators' 'Tunnel Vision' Allowing Big Banks To Get Bigger

Economix :

As required by the Dodd-Frank financial regulation legislation (in section 123), Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as chairman of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, has released an assessment on the costs and benefits of potentially limiting the size of banks and other financial institutions.

Read the whole story: Economix

Comments

[Phil Waste]

09:52 AM on 01/22/2011

I think there is only one Bank Regulator and he is overwhelmed. He is however very rich.

[Tom Langley]

06:50 PM on 01/21/2011

Abolish the Fed, Print Treasury notes to pay off the debt, end fractionalized lending and return to 100% reserve lending, pull US out of the BIS War machine.

[doneflyin]

01:56 PM on 01/21/2011

Tunnel vision, my patooty. It was deliberate policy.

[StuffMoreStuff]

01:05 PM on 01/21/2011

Too big to fail begets too bigger to fail.
The guy in charge of oversight says "it's OK"
Another example of why we have : THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY
Timmy resign please, you bureaucratic hack!

[Sarah Albers]

02:03 AM on 01/21/2011

This is classic. As the final paragraph in this article states:

In the United States, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and now the Financial Stability Oversight Council are distorting the evidence to accommodate the views of Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase; William M. Daley, President Obama’s newly appointed chief of staff, and other executives who want to build bigger, increasingly global, highly leveraged – and much more dangerous – banks.

Changing the evidence to make sure that the banksters are happy. What a novelty...But why should we expect any different from Geithner et al???

[sonofsamphm1c]

06:22 PM on 01/20/2011

Two years, and the Huffington Post still has not figured out what this guy has to say is garbage.

[cccoyote]

04:45 PM on 01/20/2011

Tunnel Vision the Administrations new code word for payola.

[Carl Caroli]

04:09 PM on 01/20/2011

“There are both costs and benefits to limiting bank size,”
And it's clear to most of us that TBTF is incredibly detrimental to our nation, Timmy. Therefore, the smart thing to do is err on the side of caution and keep them all small enough to fail without disrupting the nation. Duh!

[sonofsamphm1c]

06:21 PM on 01/20/2011

What you are describing is not going happen the way you think in a systemic crisis. Making banks smaller is a sugar pill.

[flashblitzen]

02:52 PM on 01/20/2011

Ran across this quote from one of the Global Elite.

Baron M.A. Rothschild wrote, "Give me control over a nation's currency and I care not who makes its laws."

[blueken]

02:52 PM on 01/20/2011

Here is some gas on the fire. The Fed is lending money to the big banks cheap, almost free, at the same time there is a run on munis. That means that while Wall Street can get cheap money from the Fed, our local cities have to go to the public and pay interest rates that seem to be going hire. Meanwhile anyone who is holding any of this local debt is seeing the redemption value of their bonds go down. You can probably figure out how I know this. I lost $8 K in the last three months.

[Its-All-Good]

05:58 PM on 01/20/2011

Ah so..

[MossyOak]

02:46 PM on 01/20/2011

Geither was our first clue, Daley is the slap in the face in case you didn't get the message the first time. Obama is now playing Clinton Re-Election Redux by snuggling closer with the banksters. He knows he's blown his populist cover and can't rely on his base to elect him next time so he'll have to kowtow to the big guns.

Expect the following neoliberal (i.e. pro-business) trends to continue over the next two years:

Removal of business regulations
Increased free market/trading initiatives
More mergers and privatizations
Chipping away of social programs and funding

[cats530]

07:01 PM on 01/20/2011

Where does that awful Summers or the Bernank fit in? Just curious - lol

[MossyOak]

09:22 PM on 01/20/2011

Right in the same pigeon hole as the other two, doncha know.

[doneflyin]

01:55 PM on 01/21/2011

F & F
Oh so painfully true.

[Kuncous]

02:02 PM on 01/20/2011

This is by design not an oversight or unintended consequence, wake up!

[doneflyin]

01:57 PM on 01/21/2011

True dat.

[Rick Eriksen]

01:17 PM on 01/20/2011

They are just following their orders from those very same big banks...The banks own and operate the government, and until we wake up to that fact and do something about it, that is just the way it is going to be…

[Last chance]

01:53 PM on 01/20/2011

notice how Holder is busy arresting Da Mob in NJ today...but gives a free pass to Da Mob of wall street.

[Kuncous]

02:04 PM on 01/20/2011

I literally commented the same on that article. Love the mob, hate and despise bankers and politicians..... All of'em

[doneflyin]

01:58 PM on 01/21/2011

That's how Justice rolls now.

[maxfax]

01:06 PM on 01/20/2011

Does it ever end?

[peaceandfreedom]

01:17 PM on 01/20/2011

It ends when the New Royalty have All the money...

[maxfax]

01:37 PM on 01/20/2011

The Commodore would be proud.

[cats530]

07:03 PM on 01/20/2011

The thought that gives me good cheer is that "the elite" will still have to use the crumbling infrastructure as the rest of us.

[Marysse]

01:01 PM on 01/20/2011

Its funny that while we're here arguing about democrat vs republicans and all that nonsense, the real battle is between the powerful folks and the rest of us. The reason why we can't have real change or exercise any 'power of the people' is because we're all divided along silly party lines while the power-brokers are consolidated on the issue that matter to them and hurt us. Meanwhile and ultimately, where do the allegiances of all our politician really lie? And even if there are the politician who want to effect meaningful change that will help the people, will the corrupted and the powers behind the scenes allow them?

[Mondieu]

02:36 PM on 01/20/2011

Exactly. So refreshing to see another on this post that doesn't scream Blue or Red. Just another color besides the almight Green.