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The Price of Speculation Makes the Case for Regulation by Mijin Cha, policyshop.net | November 14, 2012
One of the most visible signs of climate change was last summer’s prolonged extreme drought. Over eighty percent of the corn and soybean crops were impacted. Not surprisingly, we saw record food prices globally. Price increases due to drought are easy to understand given the reduction in crop supply that accompanies drought. Yet, even before this summer’s drought, food prices have been increasing and record high prices were seen in 2008 and again in 2011. Part of the increase in prices can be attributed to the increase in global population, and therefore, increased demand. Part of the increase, however, is artificially manufactured and not a result of increased demand or decreased supply. Financial speculation destabilizes the commodities market and increased speculative action correlates with increased food prices. In other words, financial manipulations are causing food prices to increase when there is no other reason why they should be increasing. read more »Wall Street Uses the Third Way to Lead its Assault on Social Security by William K. Black, neweconomicperspectives.org | November 14, 2012
Third Way, lobbyists for and from Wall Street who are leading the effort to enrich Wall Street by privatizing Social Security, was created by Wall Street to fool some of the people all of the time. I have written previously to expose their fictional claims to be a moderate or liberal Democratic group. Eric Laursen documented Wall Street’s effort to become even wealthier by privatizing Social Security in articles and his recent book. I showed that Third Way makes itself useful by providing a faux “liberal” or “moderate” “Democratic” quote machine that can be used to discredit Democrats and Democratic policies such as the safety net. I gave examples of how Third Way gave aid and comfort to the effort to defeat Elizabeth Warren and the effort to unravel the safety net. Third Way continues to prove that you can fool some of the people all of the time. read more »America On The Edge Of A 'fiscal Cliff'? No, It's The Right Peddling Scare Stories by Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian | November 13, 2012
The morning after Barack Obama's re-election, panic broke out. Radio 4 described financial markets slumping on worries over something called a "fiscal cliff". The clock is ticking, apparently. Obama has until New Year's Eve in which to strike a deal with the Republicans – otherwise nearly 50 tax cuts will expire and the defense department alone will get slapped with $1.2 trillion in cuts. Unless the Democrats give the Republicans what they want in the form of further tax giveaways for the richest, the senator Mitch McConnell and his right-wing allies will block any attempt to extend borrowing – with disastrous economic consequences. It sounds like a budgetary version of the film Speed; but this is the fiscal cliff Washington is driving off. And the result will be another recession and soaring unemployment. There is just one problem with this version of events: it's exaggerated. Distorted. More spiced-up than a bargain balti. read more »Monopoly Endgame for the Global Economy by Thom Hartmann and Sam Sacks, truth-out.org | November 13, 2012
Let’s face it, if your opponent in Monopoly scoops up Boardwalk, Park Place, North Carolina Avenue, Pacific Avenue, both utilities, and the four railroads – that’s game over. But let’s assume the Monopoly game doesn’t end there. Let’s assume the broke players keep rolling the dice and keep going around the board. They essentially keep living their lives desperate and broke, using their credit cards and home lines of credit to stay in the game. Meanwhile, the oligarch who owns everything can no longer collect any income. The other players can’t afford to pay rent, they can’t pay utilities, and they can’t ride on the railroads. Eventually, without consumers spending money, the Monopoly oligarch goes broke, too. His properties and businesses disappear and suddenly everyone is broke! That’s what Monopoly’s version of economic collapse looks like. And it’s very similar to what global economic collapse in the real world looks like, too. read more »It’s the Interest, Stupid! Why Bankers Rule the World by Ellen Brown, globalresearch.ca | November 11, 2012
In the 2012 edition of Occupy Money released last week, Professor Margrit Kennedy writes that a stunning 35% to 40% of everything we buy goes to interest. This interest goes to bankers, financiers, and bondholders, who take a 35% to 40% cut of our GDP. That helps explain how wealth is systematically transferred from Main Street to Wall Street. The rich get progressively richer at the expense of the poor, not just because of “Wall Street greed” but because of the inexorable mathematics of our private banking system. read more »Will Wall Street Be Punished? by Andrew Leonard, salon.com | November 9, 2012
Who is ready to shed a tear for Wall Street? The moguls bet big, and lost. Now, if we are to believe their whining, they are preparing to pay the piper. If, during the negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” President Obama plays a level of hardball that was in short supply for most of his first term, the wealthiest Wall Streeters might see a return to Clinton-era income tax rates on the rich. Anything more meaningful, like a hike in the tax rate on capital gains, or an end to the exemption for carried interest, will require a major breakthrough — successfully bashing through the obstructionism of House Republicans who seem unlikely to accede to any elements of Obama’s agenda, no matter how forcefully the president seeks them. So come on, if the sharp drop in the stock market this week really was Wall Street’s reaction to Obama’s win, then the 1 percent doth protest too much. read more »The Post-Election Politics of the Revolving Door by David Sirota, | November 9, 2012
There are two types of money that corrupt our politics. After a national election that cost more than $2 billion, most of us know about the blatant kind that floods into politicians’ campaigns, typically with quid pro quo strings attached. This is the most obvious form of legalized bribery—cash goes in, policy positions and legislative favors eventually come out. As powerful as that money is, though, there’s also a second, equally corrosive form of payoff—the kind that awaits campaign staff and outgoing government officials if and when they enter the world of influence peddling. This more secret form of corruption tends to generate far less outrage than ho-hum rationalizations. For this reason, you almost never hear about it—that is, until the last few weeks, when a series of coincidental revelations provided a rare look at how this dark money really works. read more »Can the Federal Reserve Help Prevent a Second Recession? by William Grieder, The Nation | November 8, 2012
If Congress fails to defuse the threat of the post-election “fiscal cliff,” austerity will be in the saddle for sure. The International Monetary Fund, not usually known for dire forecasts, predicts increased risk of worldwide stagnation, and has warned specifically against the “excessive fiscal consolidation” of austerity measures. Why haven’t the presidential candidates talked about this? Maybe for the same reason they didn’t talk about global warming: they saw no votes in either. Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke, almost alone among influential officials, has been sounding the alarm in his understated, scholarly manner. The former Princeton economics professor is an authority on the Great Depression, and especially on the danger of cutting back government stimulus prematurely before a vigorous recovery is established. Bernanke has vowed that he will not repeat the big mistake the New Dealers made in the 1930s. read more »The Importance of Elizabeth Warren by Simon Johnson, economix.blogs.nytimes.com | November 8, 2012
One of the most important results on Tuesday was the election of Elizabeth Warren as United States senator from Massachusetts. Her victory matters not only because it helps the Democrats keep control of the Senate but also because Ms. Warren has a track record of speaking truth to authority on financial issues – both to officials in Washington and to powerful people on Wall Street. How much can a new senator accomplish? Within hours of her victory, some commentators from the financial sector suggested that no freshman senator could achieve much. This is wishful thinking on their part. read more »Elizabeth Warren Took on Wall Street, Wins US Senate Seat by Philip Palij, OurFuture.org | November 7, 2012
Wow! Please Do Not Adjust Your Set. Progressive champion Elizabeth Warren, who built her campaign around an intellectual and moral attack on Wall Street malpractice in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, has unseated Republican Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts. "This victory is for you," Warren told her supporters just before 11:00 PM on Tuesday, following a concession speech by Brown. She vowed to protect working families and small business owners, and promised to "hold the big guys accountable." read more »
The Latest
Senators: Run Consumer Head by Us, Politico | July 23, 2010
The three Senate Republicans who broke with their party to support President Barack Obama’s Wall Street reform plan asked Obama Thursday not to make a recess appointment for the director of a controversial consumer protection agency. more »
Curbing Wall Street: The Next Stage, netrootsnation.org | July 22, 2010
The financial reform bill was but a first step. It created a consumer financial protection bureau, but left the big banks more concentrated than ever, with the financial casino open for gambling. The bankers are getting million dollar bonuses, but foreclosures continue at record levels, small businesses can't get loans, payday lenders are still gouging workers. more »
The 2010 Elections: Channeling the Power of Jobs, Populism and the Angry Voter, netrootsnation.org | July 22, 2010
The rising tide of populist anger in the face of Wall Street bailouts and continued high unemployment threatens to take an ugly reactionary turn unless it is channeled to more progressive policies of job growth. This panel will address current public attitudes and ideas for steering opinion and action more progressively.
Senate Democrats’ Plan to Aid Small Businesses Hits G.O.P. Resistance, The New York Times | July 22, 2010
Perhaps the last best hope of Democrats to pass legislation aimed at creating jobs before the November elections seemed to be crumbling in the Senate on Wednesday as Republicans signaled that they would block a bill to expand government lending programs and grant an array of tax breaks to small businesses. more »
Battle Brews Over Director for New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , Los Angeles Times | July 22, 2010
President Obama reversed decades of lax oversight of the financial industry Wednesday by signing a landmark overhaul of regulations, but he still faces a major task — appointing a director for the powerful new agency charged with protecting consumers from unscrupulous deals. more »
Fight Over Consumer Agency Looms as Overhaul Is Signed , The Wall Street Journal | July 22, 2010
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law the most sweeping financial overhaul since the Depression, putting the country on a course toward a more muscular regulatory framework. more »
10 Ways New Wall Street Reform Law Will Help You , Huffington Post | July 22, 2010
Today, President Obama signed into law the Restoring American Financial Stability Act - the most important regulatory overhaul of our nation's financial system since the reforms that led to 60 years of sustained growth after the Great Depression. more »
Goldman Settles Its Battle With SEC , The Wall Street Journal | July 16, 2010
In one of the largest penalties in Wall Street history, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to pay $550 million to settle civil charges that it duped clients by selling mortgage securities that were secretly designed by a hedge-fund firm to cash in on the housing market's collapse. more »
Public Unfamiliar with Wall Street Bill, Reuters | July 16, 2010
A big majority of Americans are unfamiliar with the sweeping overhaul of financial rules that was headed to final approval in Congress on Thursday, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs online poll. more »
Zombie K Street Project: The GOP Turns To Lobbyists To Draft Policy Agenda, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com | July 9, 2010
John Boehner twisted himself into a pretzel this week when he told the Washington Post he had "no idea" whether Republicans would once again attempt to privatize Social Security if they retake the House in November. He couldn't just say "no" -- he followed up with the explanation that he couldn't say because he didn't want to prejudge the outcome of the GOP's voter survey. more »
