If not, NPR has a Fresh Air audio link interview [about 40 minutes] with New York Times financial columnist Gretchen Morgenson on the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers meltdown.
She is one of those nasty, reality-based people who doesn’t think anyone came out of this mess smelling good, and is definitely not impressed with what has and hasn’t happened in the past year, nor what is likely to happen in the near future.
I really hate discovering I haven’t been cynical enough.
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7 comments
Good interview. Bad feeling.
.-= last blog ..New Cookbook Aids CA Firefighters =-.
I get the definite feeling that she thinks it is going to happen again, and in the not too distant future if something isn’t done about regulation.
Having Congress write the regulations pretty much guarantees that the banks and Wall Street won’t be inconvenienced by them.
Congress appears to be quite domesticated. A question: Why do you humans not elect feral Congressmen? If a banker tried giving something to a feral, a feral would just grab it and run, rather than do some humiliating rub up against the banker and purr silliness. You need Congressmen who have some dignity and self respect, not Congressmen who might as well be servile (shudder) DOGS!
…I was listening to this while I was driving back from what we call “the field”, and I have to confess that it was the most chilling and disturbing thing I’ve heard in a while and easily the most distressing thing I have ever heard on “Fresh Air”.
I agree with you, Bryan. I thought I was the most snarkily cynical guy on my block, but the Gretchen Morgenson interview suggests that I am a pure amateur when it comes to actually understanding where we could end up before this is all done…
Welcome aboard, Rude Kitty. Lap Dogs is the most accurate description of Congress in most cases. There are a few members with some spirit, but most are content to live off the largess of their corporate masters.
She makes it rather plain, Jack, that if we don’t get real regulation, the Wall Street grifters are ready to take us all on another nasty ride. As it stands now the only official trying to keep these people somewhat honest is the New York attorney general.
The Senate has no problem cutting off funding for ACORN, but suggest they do something about a major corporation or a financial institution and they hide under their desks.
“Too big to fail is too big to exist” and we have the anti-trust laws in place to deal with this problem if anyone will use them.
In a business law class I attended in what seems like eons ago, the professor was very clear about what “too big to exist” was and why companies were broken up. We definitely need mandatory continuing education classes for congress critters and senators.
I’m downloading the audio now. I’m not depressed today… sun is shining, weather is nice, the work week is half over… I’ll give it a listen and see what happens.
.-= last blog ..Zucchini Muffins =-.
The bigger they are, the bigger the
bribescampaign contributions.The de-regulation acolytes allowed this to happen, knowing in their Randian souls that enlightened self-interest would save the day. They all seem to forget that a corporation is a government construct that violates several basic precepts of capitalism.
Capitalism isn’t the problem, corporatism is the problem.