Tarp Money

One Year Later: The Post-TARP Questions We Should Be Asking

Dear John Thain | Posted 11.04.2009 | Business


Dear John Thain

While we can't decisively compare outcomes of choices that were made to alternative choices, we can ask why certain decisions haven't even been tackled.

Obama Year One: United by Change, Divided by Reform

Jeffrey Feldman | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics


Jeffrey Feldman

If Obama fails to grasp soon why his idea of reform has alienated key parts of his base -- and if he fails to do something to bridge that divide -- the result could be a full scale mutiny by 2010.

Barack Obama Is Doing My Job; Why America Needs Him to Do His

Arianna Huffington | Posted 10.28.2009 | Business


Arianna Huffington

When it comes to dealing with Wall Street, President Obama seems to have traded in his position as our economy's commander-in-chief for a different role: pundit-in-chief.

Executive Pay Cuts? Hold the Standing Ovation

Stuart Whatley | Posted 10.24.2009 | Business


Stuart Whatley

Yes, a quick round of applause for Feinberg for cutting our financial wards' CEO pay. But hold off on the standing ovation; the Obama era does not need a "Mission Accomplished" moment.

Obama Aides Stand Up To Big Banks On Sunday Morning Talk Shows

nytimes.com | GINGER THOMPSON | Posted 10.19.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON -- Striking a populist tone, several of President Obama's leading advisers on Sunday issued stern warnings to Wall Street. They said big ba...

Elizabeth Warren: Bank Bonuses Leave Me "Speechless" (VIDEO)

Posted 10.19.2009 | Business


In a recent interview with Yahoo Tech Ticker's Aaron Task, Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, said she was "speechless" ove...

OMG! Greenspan Goes Populist?

Les Leopold | Posted 10.19.2009 | Business


Les Leopold

For Alan Greenspan, the apostle of free markets, to admit that financial free markets are not self-correcting is an enormous concession.

Break Up Goldman Sachs?

Les Leopold | Posted 10.13.2009 | Business


Les Leopold

Goldman Sachs and the other major Wall Street institutions are still too big to fail. In fact they are even bigger than before. They should be broken into much smaller entities that are small enough to fail.

"Extremely Unlikely" Taxpayers Will Recoup TARP Money, Watchdog Says

Posted 09.24.2009 | Business


As ABC news reported last night, the special inspector of the government's $700 billion TARP program said in prepared testimony that the chances of ta...

The $2 Trillion Secret

Pat Choate | Posted 09.18.2009 | Business


Pat Choate

As the sheer volume of the Fed financing makes clear, the bailout of the financial sector involves more than the $700 billion approved by Congress in late 2008.

Recovery: The New Black

Harry Shearer | Posted 09.17.2009 | Business


Harry Shearer

Are the green shoots real, or are the government economy-minders taking premature credit to dampen populist anger? Let's hope they aren't simply seeing some dandelions in the lawn and calling it springtime.

How Glenn Beck Can Become a Progressive -- Really!

John F. Wasik | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics


John F. Wasik

Beck and his tea-bagging minions apparently don't want anything to do with creating jobs for those who need them.

The Continuing Disaster of Wall Street, One Year Later

Robert Reich | Posted 11.14.2009 | Business


Robert Reich

Let's be clear: Wall Street today is up to the same tricks it was playing before its near-death experience. The only difference now is that its biggest banks know for sure they'll be bailed out if their bets turn sour.

Lehman Brothers, a Year After Its Collapse

Sheldon Filger | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

The calculation made by Bernanke and Paulson that Lehman Brothers was expendable, especially in light of the measures taken to save AIG, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns, not to mention Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was destined to be proved fatally flawed.

SIGTARP's Independence Essential to Protect Taxpayers

Rep. Darrell Issa | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


Rep. Darrell Issa

No matter where Americans fall along the ideological spectrum, everyone should be concerned when federal officials, with extraordinary power over the economy, attempt to limit oversight of their own conduct.

Morgan Stanley CEO Buys $13.5 M. House

The New York Observer | Max Abelson | Posted 10.19.2009 | Business


Less than a year after Morgan Stanley got its $10 billion TARP loan (and exactly two and a half months after the money was repaid), the mammoth firm's...

If TARP Was So Smart, Why Are So Many Banks Failing?

Eric Schurenberg | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business


Eric Schurenberg

Things aren't going so well outside the pale of banks too big to fail. The FDIC faces losses of $21 billion from the 84 banks that have gone under so far this year -- more than in all of last year.

Squandered Honeymoon: How Botched Bailouts Hamper Healthcare Reform

Rob Johnson | Posted 09.27.2009 | Business


Rob Johnson

Our president is now in a place, as Martha Reeves once sang, with Nowhere to Run and Nowhere to Hide. Having fumbled on finance, he must show the American people why we elected him, or be at risk of losing his job.

From Death Panel to Death Spiral

Jeff Schweitzer | Posted 09.17.2009 | Politics


Jeff Schweitzer

The GOP is not the party of small government and lower taxes. They are the Party of borrow and spend, big government and sex scandals.

AIG Bailout Enters New Phase -- With "Even More Generous Payments For Some Banks"

New York Times | Posted 09.12.2009 | Business


The bailout of the American International Group has entered another phase -- one that includes even more generous payments for some banks....

Letting the Banking Rats Out of the Bag

Robert Scheer | Posted 09.11.2009 | Business


Robert Scheer

Why has it been left to one stellar judge to sound the alarm on Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, and why is Congress and the Obama administration looking the other way?

Financial Reforms: Is Europe Hypocritical?

Georges Ugeux | Posted 09.05.2009 | Business


Georges Ugeux

European bank losses were as high as the U.S. They used the same compensation system, and their fragmented and ineffective regulatory system shares responsibility for the crisis.

Enslaved by Our 401ks?

Les Leopold | Posted 08.28.2009 | Business


Les Leopold

I'm worried that we've locked ourselves into the stock market to such a degree that we'll allow nearly anything to happen on Wall Street as long as our pension funds and invested savings recover.

Why Goldman Still Owes Us

Marshall Auerback | Posted 08.27.2009 | Business


Marshall Auerback

They know exactly how to find leverage (no pun intended) and exploit it, and are frighteningly adept in negotiating strategy (as to what issues to run through what channels).

When Someone Says "Financial Innovation," Put Your Hand on Your Wallet

Les Leopold | Posted 08.21.2009 | Business


Les Leopold

The financial flack who came up with the phrase "financial innovation" deserves the Bernie Madoff Financial Engineering Prize of 2009 for the most outrageous fantasy finance concept of the year.