Much of what Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner did in 2008 was presumably necessary. But the public has no way of knowing. The public doesn't even know who else the Fed has bailed out, or what entities it will bail out in the future.
I dislike singling out individuals for blame or praise in a political system as complex as the United States'. But I worry that the nation is not on the right economic road, and that some of our leaders still don't get it.
The only way to make sure no bank it 'too big to fail' is to make sure no bank is too big. If our current leaders fail to do this, you have every reason to believe it's because Wall Street has paid them not to.
One logical way to deal with the crisis of funding Social Security and Medicare is to have more workers per retiree, and the simplest way to do that is to allow more immigrants into the United States.
More Americans will be working, but for less pay. The approaching recovery will be tepid because so many people will lack the money needed to buy all the goods and services the economy produces.
Republicans figure the public's attention span is so short they won't remember that it was the GOP who bailed out Wall Street. And they hope financial reform is too complex for voters to understand.
The so-called "resolution" mechanism the Democrats are pushing to wind down any big bank that gets into trouble is a step in the right direction. But it won't work if two or more giant banks are simultaneously endangered.
When Mitch McConnell has to misquote me to find evidence he's telling the truth, he is desperate. No, Senator, I never said Dodd's finance reform bill contains a bailout fund.
The Dodd bill now being considered in the Senate is a step in the right direction. Yet despite the hype, it's a very modest step. It leaves out three of the most important things we need.
Politicians cannot continue to have it both ways. Given the Street's excesses, Washington's continued financial dependence on it is eroding trust in government.
Evidence of Republicans' tactic to mislead the public comes in the form of a shady anti-financial reform group called "Stop Too Big To Fail" which today announced a new TV advertising push in three key states.
