Reading The Pictures: Volcker and the White House: Not Too Big To Flail
Beyond the pure shame of it, the photo is almost too painful to look at.
It shows Team Obama with Paul Volcker and his White House economic advisory board seemingly looking and feeling like fools -- which is understandable given the way he and his team have been ostracized from and by the Administration and Obama's Wall Street-green-fed-and-bred economic team. (And then, check out the anti-Volcker, Larry Summers, tucked away in the background staring the extreme other direction. Is he's sucking on something? It sort of looks like his head is about to cave in.) The NYT article accompanying the photo explains the futility, detailing the alienation resulting from Volcker's push to essentially reenact Glass-Steagall and prevent commercial banks from continuing to run trading operations.
Credit Christine Roemer, by the way, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, as the only person in the back row not only not averting her eyes but actually paying Volcker some attention (although he look does bear some similarity to a motorist slowing down to check out a highway wreck).
Poor man (and poor us). Pitching a truly progressive idea -- in other words, "change we can believe in" -- to put banks on steroids back in their box, instead he's sitting there with his two pages of notes, holding his head with his fist clenched in anger or frustration, and looking like he's been spat on.
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(photo: Mannie Garcia/Bloomberg News)
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It's a PHOTO. Shaw is reading a heck of a lot into it!
it's allegorical of the entire situation, and the allegory is true
In the picture, I see a group that doesn't look very happy but it's easy to misinterpret a certain shot taken by the photographer. What I do see that is unmistakable, is the seating positions of Paul Volker and Larry Summers. Volker is seated right next to the President, whereas Summers, is seated way in back looking like sin dipped in confusion.
I'm not a psychic but I predict that within a year, hopefully sooner than later, Summers will be long gone from the Obama Administration amid scandal. Obama is going to go in a direction that will test Summers commitment between Wall Street and Main Street. Paul Volker, on the other hand, will remain throughout Obama's first term but will not be there in his second term. I'm not sure about Tim Geithner but I can see him going through both terms as Sec. of Treasury.
The caption should read; "Beyond the pure sham of it...."
Larry Summers and Tim Geithner need to be fired for the sake of the country and for the sake of getting control of our government back from the bankers and Wall Street stealing it from us.
I am a huge Obamamaniac, but regarding his choice of acting financial advisors-including Treasury sec'y- I have always had major reservations. Too many chickens from the wall street coop for my liking, and after watching Frontline last night I wonder even more why he is listening to these guys. Progressive thinking is what we need now, even if it comes from old guys. Get rid of Glass-Steagall for starters; that opened up a huge can of worms where we are today. Ditch the Summers guy, and rein in or replace Geitner and all the Goldman cronyism. And bring back the WPA, CCC, and all the New Deal actions that provided jobs and a nice bit of culture to boot!
Ye of little faith! You just have to have more patience! The trickle in Trickle Down Economics is just as stated---a trickle---and as such takes time to reach you. Heck, the farther away you are removed from the banquet table, the less chance you have of the trickle reaching you---yup, the distance-f
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Why is Obama resisting returning to the regulations of Glass-Segal. We have got to stop these bankers.
As a sometime viewer of old western movies, I note that in the genre, it is impossible to expect the sheriff to arrest the Dalton Gang once he solicits payments from them out of the loot they acquired holding up the First National Bank while the sheriff watched their horses for them and kept the dusty street clear of witnesses.
Replace Geithner with Volcker. We are all learning that Obama was just the right amount of "change" in order that the status quo would continue (till it collapses, of course.) Obama is in a very difficult situation, so I'm not about to place all responsibility at his feet. But, we can see how he is being used to keep everything the same.
Careful there! Obama aint no stooge, no patsy, not ignorant of what and who surrounds him! I think he agrees with the current prescription to fix what's wrong with Wall Street, that's why he chose the folks he chose to deal with the economic crisis---he shares their values and approach to fixing what ills our economy. Looks like you don't share the same. Good luck in trying to change his mind, for you don't work for Wall Street, you are not an insider, you are not a member of the INDISPENSABLES.
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This is true. We'd all be better off if Volcker were in Summers' position. Summers and Geithner were two of Obama's worst picks at this particular time in my opinion.
See Lowell Thompson's Profile
Obama's pretty tall, but he looks pretty small next to Volker.
And the less he listens to Volker - and the more he listens to Summers - the smaller he seems to get.
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They are thinking about how they can get this off their vita.
I think it's too late, you can't put toothpaste back into the tube....
It's never too late.
Poor Volcker. He's pushing for exactly what we need right now: to re-enact Glass-Steagall.
Instead, we'll throw (taxpayer) money at the problem and hope it goes away. That's like treating a drug addict by giving him lots of money -- at least, then, he'll be able to buy HIGH CLASS drugs, right?
Progressives really need to stop acting like they can cure Schizophrenia. It's just NOT possible. What the Administration needs is to REGULATE and like Krugman said he doesn't buy into the "Too Big To Fail" Theories. Can we please stop having such a narrow focus that this will have some dynamic solution..
Yeah, except that nobody wants to invest in local banks because (biggest story you haven't heard in the MSM) local banks are folding at an insane rate. Vicious circle.
I have heard and there are still a great amount of small banks that are surviving this crisis. Plus, credit unions aren't going anywhere. Again, we need to make people proactive and stop trying to fix everything when we as Progressives believe in the freedom of choice
Not in my area. Local banks avoided the collapse and handle their own loans. Smart, old school, and it works.
It does not matter what actual people are doing so long as banks and corporations are able to keep mounting up derivatives. Glass-Steagall is very much needed. That should've been reform #1. Reform #2: regulating OTC derivatives.
The Glas-Steagal was repealed by the Republican Senate in 1998 by Phil Graham and John Mccain. The president is not in the legislatur
This is exactly what is wrong with President Obama and his economic team. Volcker is completely right in demanding separation and responsibility and Geithner, Summers, Bernanke are completely wrong about their incestuous relationship with the criminal banking industry. Obama does not dare to say no to them. Almost anything he does are giant compromises, favoring the wealthy and they are NOT the ones that will help the economy, create jobs, improve health-care. They are a criminal group which will abuse any system where ever they can find it and if they have to do some arm twisting they would happily supply that as well. If the banking industry or walllstreet cannot make money here, they have no trouble going abroad and screw the country. Thanks Obama, thanks for being that lame.
No, that's the problem with narrow thinking. Even Progressive Economists don't buy into this theory of "too big to fail". There is more to it! All the Economic Advisors we look up to are also stating this so I'm not sure why it's absurd why we can't see another picture. We really need to stop thinking in narrow terms.
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