deregulation

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McCain, Cantwell Join Forces to Break Up Banks

Unlikely duo sponsor bill to reinstate Glass-Steagall

(Newser) - John McCain, reconnecting with his inner maverick, has teamed up with liberal firebrand Maria Cantwell on a bill to break up Wall Street banks by reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act. The Depression-era law, dumped a decade ago, enforced a split between commercial banking and investment banking. The effort to bring it...

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan
Thomas Frank

Financial Reform: How to Prevent Another Greenspan

Reform plans may hand regulation over to fervent deregulators

(Newser) - There's a lot riding on reform of the financial industry, but the administration's plans to overhaul financial regulation carries the seeds of its own destruction, writes Thomas Frank. Taking oversight away from the present confusing array of agencies and making the Federal Reserve One Big Regulator means that when the...

In Hong Kong, Palin Blames Big Gov't for Crisis

Former Alaska governor tries to burnish foreign credentials

(Newser) - The global financial crisis was the fault of governments, not corporations, Sarah Palin told investors today at a closed-door talk in Hong Kong. In her first speaking engagement outside North America, the former Alaska governor said that "we got into this mess because of government interference in the first...

Working Class Picks Wrong Villains
 Working Class Picks 
 Wrong Villains 
OPINION

Working Class Picks Wrong Villains

(Newser) - When the tea party protesters converged on Washington, one leader, radio demagogue Mark Williams, repeatedly described them as “working stiffs” who felt left out. It’s no wonder they’re angry, writes Timothy Egan for the New York Times, because it’s been a lost decade for “working...

Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check
Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check
OPINION

Brown's Woes Offers Obama Reality Check

Voters don't reward economic competence after crisis: Krugman

(Newser) - The Bush administration has taken much of the blame for the American recession, but a "huge housing bubble and a financial crisis" were always on the cards, as Paul Krugman writes for the New York Times. Writing from London, where voters gave Gordon Brown a pummeling in Thursday's elections,...

How Wall Street Went Hollywood (and Brought Down Our Economy)

(Newser) - During the Great Depression, legend has it a group of Wall Street bankers went to Hollywood to see if it was worth investing in, only to be immediately repulsed by the brazen displays of wealth they saw there. Now that it's the bankers being pilloried for their excesses, writes Neal...

Banking Should Go Back to Being Boring

(Newser) - When Paul Krugman was in grad school, nobody wanted to be a banker. Sure, it paid more than being an academic economist, but “everyone knew that banking was, well, boring,” he writes in the New York Times. That was before deregulation came into vogue in the 1980s, turning...

DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer
DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer
OPINION

DC Still Turns Blind Eye to Banks: Spitzer

Regulators attempt to save face after failing to prevent crisis

(Newser) - There’s a reason the government seems to have no control—darn the luck—over the banks it’s poured billions into: It’s trying to save face, writes Eliot Spitzer for Slate. Washington has struck a tacit bargain with Wall Street, the ex-governor says: Taxpayers bail out the financial...

Thatcher's 'Big Bang' Free-for-All Led to Bust
Thatcher's 'Big Bang'
Free-for-All Led to Bust
ANALYSIS

Thatcher's 'Big Bang' Free-for-All Led to Bust

Pioneers of British '80s deregulation dismayed at unforeseen 'side effects'

(Newser) - The British regulatory reforms that changed the face of the financial industry in the '80s allowed banks to become bloated giants, two architects of the so-called "Big Bang" changes tell the Wall Street Journal. The deregulation let London's financial sector flourish, the men say, but also allowed banks to...

Obama Should Draft Krugman
 Obama Should Draft Krugman 
OPINION

Obama Should Draft Krugman

NYT columnist would do a lot better than Geithner and Summers

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s economic team so far has failed to inspire confidence, writes Steven Stark for the Boston Phoenix. Instead of Geithner and Summer, Obama should pick a new man to lead the charge on the financial crisis: Appoint Paul Krugram, Nobel laureate and economics columnist for the New York ...

Obama to Name Tech Adviser as FCC Chair

Genachowski choice praised by media reform movement

(Newser) - Barack Obama is expected to announce Julius Genachowski as his FCC chairman, and media reform groups are enthusiastic about the choice, Ars Technica reports. Genachowski served in the FCC during the Clinton administration and in the dot-com industry before becoming Obama’s technology adviser. He helped craft the President-elect’s...

Poll: Americans Back Economic Intervention

A growing majority blames financial crisis on deregulation

(Newser) - A clear majority of Americans approve of Washington taking firm steps to intervene in the nation's struggling economy, a Los Angeles Times poll finds. Two-thirds favor tighter restrictions on financial institutions and 60% back help for homeowners facing foreclosure. A huge 87% blamed deregulation for the economic crisis—up 25% ...

Whom to Thank for This Mess
 Whom to Thank for This Mess 
opinion

Whom to Thank for This Mess

Bad decisions starting in the '80s triggered the credit crisis

(Newser) - This financial crisis brewed over decades of bad decisions, and, in Vanity Fair, economist Joseph Stiglitz makes sure credit is given where due:
  • In 1987 President Reagan appointed anti-regulation Alan Greenspan to a regulatory post.
  • Greenspan offered the markets a "flood of liquidity" that boosted inflation and caused
...

Ex-Sen. Gramm Sticks to His Guns on Deregulation
Ex-Sen. Gramm Sticks to
His Guns on Deregulation
ANALYSIS

Ex-Sen. Gramm Sticks to His Guns on Deregulation

Republican touts benefits of subprime loans, credit-default swaps as critics cry foul

(Newser) - While some experts argue his work contributed to the economic meltdown, former senator Phil Gramm stands by his efforts to deregulate the lending and financial sectors, the New York Times reports. “There is this idea afloat that if you had more regulation you would have fewer mistakes,” Gramm...

Huge Bush Deregulation Push Before Jan. 20

White House will relax rules on environment, consumer protection

(Newser) - George W. Bush is president for 11 more weeks, and the White House is plotting to use that time to modify federal regulations to weaken protections for consumers and the environment. The deregulatory initiatives would be some of the most controversial of the Bush era, reports the Washington Post, lifting...

Greenspan: I Was Wrong to Trust Banks

Fed's push for deregulation helped 'nnce-in-a-century credit tsunami'

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan made a mild mea culpa today as lawmakers grilled him on his role in a financial crisis the former Fed chief called a “once-in-a-century credit tsunami,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Asked if he was wrong to champion deregulation, Greenspan replied, “partially,” explaining he’...

Poll: Americans Want More Regulation

70% say lack of oversight caused economic woes

(Newser) - What caused the financial and housing crises? Three-quarters of Americans think a lack of federal regulation played at least some role in current economic woes, and 90% characterize the economy as doing badly, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. When asked about the most crucial financial focus for the...

GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank
GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank
OPINION

GOP Is Brilliant at Blaming the Victim: Frank

Conservatives can't admit deregulation has failed, says Frank

(Newser) - Even in a financial crisis obviously precipitated by an orgy of deregulation, writes Wall Street Journal columnist Thomas Frank, the right has done a spectacular job deflecting blame. Looking to point the finger at something other than "unbridled pecuniary motives," conservatives have targeted Democrat-friendly Fannie Mae and Freddie...

Mac's Market Approach Sours Amid Crisis

Obama seizes on plan for privatized Social Security accounts

(Newser) - The tumbling stock market has drawn the wrong kind of attention to John McCain’s Social Security and health-care positions, the Wall Street Journal reports, since the Republican has long been an advocate of more market-based, deregulated approaches in both areas. A new Barack Obama ad says McCain’s plan...

McCain Team on Defense Over Health Care Comment

Dem said McCain backs banking deregulation

(Newser) - John McCain was back on the defensive over the economy yesterday, after Barack Obama accused him of touting banking deregulation in a magazine article even as Washington is scrambling to re-regulate the industry to stave off a Wall Street meltodown, the Washington Post reports. In this month's Contingencies magazine, McCain...

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