Downsizing the Banks: A U.K. Plan
The United States isn't the only country that has a problem with giant banks that take too many risks, are not transparent, and are effectively above democratic oversight. The U.K. has the same...
View ArticleThe Endless (and Ironic) Attacks on the CFPB
Anyone who has followed the creation and early life of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau knows that conservatives in Congress have repeatedly tried to kill or weaken this agency using the power...
View ArticleThe Endless Attack on the CFPB
Anyone who has followed the creation and early life of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau knows that conservatives in Congress have repeatedly tried to kill or weaken this agency using the power...
View ArticleWhat's Wrong With Flat Corporate Profits? Beyond Short-Termism
Imagine a company that is among the most profitable in the world, with a long track record of making money hand over fist for years on end. Except there is only one problem: As big as the profits are,...
View ArticleFinancial Reform's Unfulfilled Promises
The General Accounting Office has issued a report on the progress of the regulatory agencies as they implement the Dodd-Frank Act financial reforms. It is a depressing read. Fewer than half of the 236...
View ArticleSmall Businesses Overwhelmingly Support Financial Reform, CFPB
Owners of small businesses want Wall Street and the large American banks to be held accountable for the lingering financial crisis. They believe that stronger regulations governing these institutions...
View ArticleThe Suit Against S&P - Where are the Banks?
The Department of Justice has brought a civil suit against Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency, that centers on the decisions that S&P made concerning models it used to evaluate default...
View ArticleHandling the Truth of the Bailout
Gretchen Morgenson’s New York Times article on the New York Fed’s ongoing bailout of Bank of America is a much needed reminder of the tar baby embraced by the government in 2008 when it decided to save...
View ArticleWhy Are Republicans Blocking Richard Cordray at the CFPB?
This morning the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Richard Corday to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. On the merits, Cordray should breeze through. The...
View ArticleTurning Off the Alarm System: JP Morgan Chase's Regulatory Dodge
Last night, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a searing 300-page report on JP Morgan Chase’s London Whale episode. The bank lost at least $6.2 billion through trading credit...
View ArticleAre Academics for Hire Influencing the HFT Debate?
Last week, Professor Charles M. Jones, a noted economist at Columbia, published an opinion piece in Politico claiming to enlighten readers on the realities of high-frequency trading (or “HFT”),...
View ArticleCut 'Em Off: Ending Subsidies for "Too Big to Fail" Banks
The Senate voted Friday to get rid of subsidies that “too big to fail” banks receive from what is, essentially, an unofficial insurance policy from the government. The unanimous vote, 99-0, is...
View ArticleGetting to the Bottom of the HFT Debate
I recently published an article in response to a study of high-frequency trading (“HFT”) by Professor Charles M. Jones of Columbia Business School and an opinion piece he published simultaneously in...
View ArticleNew Details on the Unmaking of Dodd-Frank
The journalist Gary Rivlin has a chilling investigative piece in The Nation about the massive assault on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act since its passage in 2010. It illuminates the ways of...
View ArticleA Stilleto in the Back of Financial Reform
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee voted out six bills that would make changes to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that could have far-reaching consequences. The bank lobbyists...
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