2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders NYT Opinion Page: To Rein In Wall Street, Fix the Fed
To rein in Wall Street, we should begin by reforming the Federal Reserve, which oversees financial institutions and which uses monetary policy to maintain price stability and full employment. Unfortunately, an institution that was created to serve all Americans has been hijacked by the very bankers it regulates.
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What went wrong at the Fed? The chief executives of some of the largest banks in America are allowed to serve on its boards. During the Wall Street crisis of 2007, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, served on the New York Feds board of directors while his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed. Next year, four of the 12 presidents at the regional Federal Reserve Banks will be former executives from one firm: Goldman Sachs.
These are clear conflicts of interest, the kind that would not be allowed at other agencies. We would not tolerate the head of Exxon Mobil running the Environmental Protection Agency. We dont allow the Federal Communications Commission to be dominated by Verizon executives. And we should not allow big bank executives to serve on the boards of the main agency in charge of regulating financial institutions.
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Much much more in the full article.
Full opinion piece link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/bernie-sanders-to-rein-in-wall-street-fix-the-fed.html
Go Bernie Go!
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)part about those who feel entitled, I wonder if that was on purpose ?
billhicks76
(5,082 posts)Wow. Can anyone believe she really said that? Oh the hubris of the false ones.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)...they were kids teasing each other in the back seat of a car.
billhicks76
(5,082 posts)Proserpina
(2,352 posts)Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded, and its structure has evolved. Events such as the Great Depression in the 1930s were major factors leading to changes in the system.
The U.S. Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act: Maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. The first two objectives are sometimes referred to as the Federal Reserve's dual mandate. Its duties have expanded over the years, and as of 2009 also include supervising and regulating banks, maintaining the stability of the financial system and providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions. The Fed conducts research into the economy and releases numerous publications, such as the Beige Book...wikipedia
The primary purpose of the Fed was and is to provide action when Congress refuses to, or cannot, to keep major financial catastrophe at bay.
If that means sticking a cash IV line into the Big Banks to keep them from collapsing...they do it. After all, it's the only thing they can do with the powers they have.
The Fed cannot do all of Congress' heavy lifting. For example, the Fed cannot create a federal budget with large infrastructure expenditures to boost demand for goods and services, which is what this country desperate needs, and has needed for 1.5 decades. Only Congress can do that.
The Fed cannot authorize and fund a safety net for America's struggling people, only Congress can.
The Fed cannot institute universal single payer health care.
Etc, ad nauseum.
Even regulating the banks...that's a congressional job. There's a definite limit as to what a non-government agency can do, and this current crisis has shown us just how powerless the Fed really is. The Fed can do a lot to make things worse in its struggles to compensate for a do-nothing Congress, but it cannot do much to make things better. That is Congress' job.
I'm not saying that Bernie doesn't have good points to make, but that's more like trimming the weeds into topiary shapes, rather than eradicating them and planting a cash crop, or a nature preserve for valuable plants, or anything of more use to the property.
JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)I am glad that Bernie is not proposing for the Fed to take any of the actions you mention that clearly fall outside its purview. However, the things he does mention are specific to the Fed, right? Why are you mentioning entirely unrelated topics?
Proserpina
(2,352 posts)For the average person on the street, to attract the public's attention, Bernie's doing the right thing.
But to really revolutionize the US economy and stabilize the global one, it's going to take a lot more.
Personally, I think a Sanders White House with a revolutionary Congress installed because of Bernie's coattails will make all the difference in the world.
I would be doing the readers on DU a disservice by not broadening the scope of the discussion. I also should invite people to stop by the Economy Group and see our little daily thread on issues economic and political at home and abroad. There's a lot to be had there.
JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)I will check that out, I enjoy reading economics.
And you are right, the US economy needs a lot more. This is but one small piece.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I tend to think of the Fed mostly in terms of money supply and interest rates, so your depiction of their primary purpose as the first-responder to economic emergency is interesting.
A progressive president with a "revolutionary" congress -- Hmmm, we did have something like that last century. Progressive liberals and conservatives working across the aisle to formulate big solutions for big problems. A lot of political scientists say that couldn't happen again that way in these conditions, but I like to think we're working toward it once again.
Proserpina
(2,352 posts)because we surely need it!
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)even dare whisper about some of the things he's shouting out as his "People Revolution" It's turning around an Oligarchy (the Fed is certainly a player there) back into something that resembles Democracy. One of the easy definitions of Oligarchy, is when a substantial group of people feel they have no say in the face of powerful leaders...unions, politics, voting rights, economy, war, DC Beltway bureaucracy, etc.
The conversation has begun and I'm glad to be a part of it. It may take 50 years to turn things around, but 8 years of Bernie and hopefully some coattails by the time is over, would be a good start.
That was a great article.
He has now drawn a very distinct line in the sand with HRC. She can't follow him there.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Financial reforms must not stop with the central bank. We must reinstate Glass-Steagall and break up the too-big-to-fail financial institutions that threaten our economy. But we need to start with fundamental change. The sad reality is that the Federal Reserve doesnt regulate Wall Street; Wall Street regulates the Fed. Its time to make banking work for the productive economy and for all Americans, not just a handful of wealthy speculators. And it begins by making the Federal Reserve a more democratic institution, one that is responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans rather than the billionaires on Wall Street.
K & R!
peacebird
(14,195 posts)Exactly.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)Helen Borg
(3,963 posts)... If necessary... But Bernie will make it unnecessary!
Segami
(14,923 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)but that way would lie disaster after disaster. Can we agree on very answerable to the People? If We the People were doing our job in even an almost half-assed way, all those supposedly working for us would be afraid to cross us.
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)All of the regulatory agencies have corporate industry toadies at or near the top. They are all underfunded to the point they cannot actually do their jobs. This is by design!
JonLeibowitz
(6,282 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)Thanks for the thread, JonLeibowitz.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)One of the others was with the Carlyle Group which is pretty much the epicenter of world evil. But that still leaves the majority having spent their entire lives as educators and/or government service.
All five were appointed by Obama which is kind of surprising given that each term lasts 14 years.
Or maybe not that surprising since they can make much bigger money as Bankers. Do the banks' bidding for a bit, then gather their reward. Most probably do not finish the 14 year term.