Ted Kaufman

Haven't we had this discussion before?

And maybe I said "I told you so" then? Forgive me. But we still haven't gotten to the point where we actually do something about federally insured big banks gambling with derivatives.

Investopedia defines a derivative:

I have spent the last 40 years of my life working in and teaching about the United States Senate. Right after then-Senator Biden and I came to Washington, he told me something I have always kept in mind when dealing with its members. "There is a reason the citizens of...

Since Japan lowered its rate last April, our corporate tax rate has been the highest in the world. There is no disagreement in Washington, believe it or not, that a 35% rate is too high.

What complicates things is that very few if any corporations actually pay...

Many of us thought that if a fair vote by shareholders on executive pay were ever allowed, a number of CEO pay proposals would be voted down. Last year, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act made such votes mandatory for publicly traded corporations.

Recently, Citigroup shareholders

There are some new gangs in our political neighborhoods called "super PACS" and they distorted the outcome in a number of states during the Republican presidential nomination campaign.

First, let's briefly review how these new super PACS came into being. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens...

Just because a volcano is dormant doesn't mean it won't erupt again. Sit on top of it, and even minor tremors are a disturbing reminder that the potential for disaster is very real.

That's how I felt when I read about the recent computer glitch that...

We've heard a lot in the past couple of years, pro and con, about escalating CEO compensation, but it seems to me at least one argument in their defense has merit. It is important to pay enough to recruit and retain the best talent available in the highly competitive global...

I've heard some surprising things from candidates during this primary season, but Mitt Romney's answer last Friday to a question about government regulation was in a league of its own. Here's what he said:

I got the chance after I lost to John McCain last time, to go...

When I was in the Senate back in 2009-2010 there were disagreements about virtually every element of Wall Street reform. But everyone, Republican or Democrat, agreed that the American taxpayer should never again have to bail out a bank because it was "too big to fail"-- so large and so...

I think of myself as an optimist. Over the years, I have seen a lot of crises resolved, as often as not by what can only be described as muddling through.

It is hard to see how the world will muddle through the Greek debt crisis....

We are beginning a new year, and the silence in Congress is still deafening. Will there ever be a debate about what should be done to deal with climate change?

Oh, you don't "believe" in it? If you do not, please, suspend that belief system for just...

This piece first appeared in the Wilmington News Journal on December 18th.

I was in London last week, visiting three grandchildren and their parents, when the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority released a 452-page report. The grandchildren were in school; I became interested. Specifically about the causes of the...

Much of the recent media coverage and Internet chatter about financial industry reform has focused on the Occupy Wall Street movement. If we ever end up with the kind of reforms needed, that movement would certainly deserve some of the credit.

If we look back on...

To understand why there is so much anger directed at Wall Street and Washington, you need only look at the evolution of the Volcker rule. Named for past Fed Chair Paul Volcker, the rule was a compromise he developed last year to deal with a major problem exposed by the...

The record-setting volatility in U.S. stock markets over the past two weeks is a clear distress signal. Our historically free, fair and credible markets are in danger of losing the support of individual American investors and investors from the rest of the world. With the advent of new technologies and...

Ever since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act passed last year, there has been a running debate about the Resolution Authority in the bill. Would it actually prevent another taxpayer bailout of a bank or banks to avoid a financial meltdown? I believe there is a real possibility that the...

To say that the year-old Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is under attack in Washington is like describing Little Big Horn as an engagement between the cavalry and the Indians. What we are watching looks more and more like a one-sided massacre, and the hordes of financial...

I am a college sports fan, always have been, always will be. I love watching the games, but I haven't liked watching what has been happening to the role of sports in our educational system.

Certainly, from a very early age sports should be part of the system. Healthy...

I think there is little chance that Congress will pass a debt limit bill in time, and we will probably experience a default on U.S. debt that will drive up interest rates, cripple the housing market, and kill our nascent economic recovery.

It is way past time for all...

Three years after the great financial meltdown of 2008, leaders in the financial industry still haven't acknowledged the systemic faults that led to it. Instead, we have seen them launch a high-profile public relations and lobbying campaign to limit proposed regulatory changes, saying that higher capital requirements and too much...