Charlie Rose

Slim  02/17/2009 03:11 PM Report

It seems to me as though everyone in Washington has been brainwashed or bribed, by the very financial wizards of Wall Street now cynically expecting to be bailed out. The whole political-financial cabal responsible for, and profiting from this massive insider fraud, now expect to be given a pass from the consequences wrought by their monumental greed. Yeah, and by the way, we're now supposed to entrust them with mega-billions more, thereby incentiveising their past bad actions to future C.E.O.'s. The rationale in the political cum financial sphere is that though they surely deserve to wear the hair shirt, the financial sector can't be punished for its transgressions without endangering the fragile economy. Hooey, purging the system of its most agregious bad actors would, I think , strengthen Financial Institutions and provide for them, some kind of economic compass that is moral, fair and essential to a democratic system. Suggesting that some folks in our system are beyond accountability because of their position or circumstances, which they themselves created, is ludicrous and cynically self-serving. I'm sure the Financial sector contains a wealth of executives intellectually and morally up to the challenge, those who led their institutions and its investors to ruin, while continuing their cult of personal privelege and excess should be shown the door.

doodahdaze  02/14/2009 08:12 AM Report

This guy makes some interesting points (Wall Street taking the baton from Fannie&Freddie, the effect of 9/11/01 on interest rates, and so forth); But he leaves out bigger factors, like, the investment shift from the Tech-stock-bookcooking bubble into the politically fixed real estate market, that started with Freddie&Fannie.

Maybe a major factor to the success of the economic stimulus is that, it's better that we (the people) don't know what's going on (until after it happens). <smile>

tartufe  02/11/2009 10:14 PM Report

Spot on IRISH. Wall Street as Faber states was complicit in the sub-prime greed. Big banks are duplicit as well and not letting the them fail (particularly Citigroup et al) is guaranteeing the moral hazard and sends the wrong message - both here and abroad. Our predators corrupted the world system - with impunity, thus leaving open that it probably will again, thereby destroying any chance of restoring confidence. Here and abroad.

The big banks and hedge funds are the primary holders and initiators of the gimmicky financial instruments (a la Credit Default Swaps, Securitised Debt etc), and consequently the very ones that created the fiasco and thus should likewise be very ones that suffer its consequences.

The network of the nations (less than mega or big) lesser banks can and should handle letters of credit and commercial paper associated with moving commodities and shipments. The honorable part of banking in short.

Credit card banking on the other hand practiced primarily by the mega-banks (again Citigroup et al) have a history of duplicitous political collusion of lobbying through advantageous and enabling confiscatory legislation: making health and unemployment related bankruptcies more difficult, overriding states usury laws, interest increases for missed payments (anywhere), repeal of Glass-Steagall, on and on. (Think Citigroup’s Sandy Weill, Robert Rubin et al) An oligarchy of vampires. Their laissez faire (true) capitalistic natural demise would be cathartic and a cleansing purge of an egregious culture consumed with an entitlement greed so outsized it capsized the world’s economy.

And ancillary resulting stimulus if their failure would result in their inability to collect on their predatory, confiscatory credit card rate - 30% up to 300+%.

And we’re rewarding them with bailouts, with doubtless ineffectual oversight. The rampant corruption will be monumental, a la Halliburton, Black Water, on and on . . . .

PBS "NOW" cited cities that are suing the big banks and subprime mortgagers. CAUTIONARY ALERT! A FEDERAL LAW WILL SOON BE PASSED MAKING IT ILLEGAL TO SUE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. MAKING THE POLITICAL-FINANCIAL OLIGARCHIC COMPLICITY A COMPLETE AND CLOSED CIRCLE.

Finally, if the cost of the bailout is estimated in trillions to avert trillions of cost to the economy, where’s the advantage? It’s a wash! Other than the elite financial wise-guys that got us here to begin with are bailed out at our and our progeny’s expense - in taxes and banana republic-style inflation.

Democracy for sale is a democracy in peril. Venality and political whoredom has won.

IRISH  02/11/2009 04:54 PM Report

Wake up USA. Wall Street as Faber states was complicit in the sub-prime and greater than the much maligned Fannie and Freddie. Your president has told you it is going to be long and arduous journey and the new beginning will be unlike the Bush II years. Get on board GOP hypocrites because he's the only horse to get you over the hurdle.

REMant  02/11/2009 02:14 PM Report

We don't need to re-capitalize the banks, we need to re-capitalize the country.

Re Geithner: As the prophet says: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." And the New Testament has it "Truly I say unto you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." Young ppl tend to grow up, it seems, believing that truth and goodness arrive with each new generation (altho I don't suppose that they give much thought to the fact that they will also have kids). But to quote Santayana once more: "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." As for Obama: Where else would you expect to find considerable unemployment, but in an RV factory? During the Depression, entertainment stocks fell more than anything except financials, and, despite Busby Berkeley, the film industry did not fare well. Will he go to Hollywood next? "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." The pair of them certainly inspire no confidence in me, perhaps they will do better on Oprah.