Summmers Defends the TBTF Banks.

[laughingliberal]

Larry Summers Defends Megabanks, Says Too Many Small Banks Make U.S. 'Less Stable'


President Barack Obama's top economic adviser defended megabanks Thursday, arguing that breaking them up serves no purpose and that a proliferation of smaller banks would instead make the financial system "less stable."

The remarks stand in sharp contrast to those being made by the presidents of at least three regional Federal Reserve banks, one Nobel Prize-winning economist, top bank regulators in Europe, and former Wall Street chieftains, all of whom argue that in order to truly end Too Big To Fail, the U.S. needs to shrink its top financial institutions so that none of them ever again threaten the financial system.

In an interview with "PBS NewsHour", Lawrence H. Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said that breaking up megabanks would hurt the economy.

"Most observers who study -- who study this believe that to try to break banks up into a lot of little pieces would hurt our ability to serve large companies and hurt the competitiveness of the United States," Summers said in response to a question about whether the U.S. should go further in trying to end Too Big To Fail by limiting the size of banks.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas M. Hoenig calls the idea that the U.S. needs megabanks to compete globally a "fantasy." <snip>

More at link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/larry-summers-defends-meg_n_549574.html

Despite Summer's contention the crisis of 2007-2009 was not caused by the failure of many small banks, as noted in the article.

[ShortnFiery]

1. REFORM will give the large Mega-Banks permission to assimilate smaller banks and credit unions. eom

[The Magistrate]

2. Time For Mr. Summers To Depart, Ma'am

[laughingliberal]

3. I agree 200% with that! nt

[elmerdem]

4. Summers & Geitner

both make me puke a little in my mouth when I see them being interviewed. Unfortunately I caught Summers on PBS last night & although I'm generally supportive of and happy with President Obama, I want to see both of these two fired.

[The Magistrate]

5. When They Were Put In Their Present Positions, Sir

One hoped it was a case of reformed thieves, a la M. Vidocq, set to watch their former compatriots, and armed with knowledge got by their own thieving past that would enable them to do so with utmost effect. But it is clear by now they are simply the representatives of the Thieves Guild admitted into councils of state....

[appal_jack]

6. +1 k&r n/t

[Political Heretic]

7. I don't know who this "one" is but he/she is pretty stunningly ignorant to have hoped that

Seriously folks, its not rocket science.

[truedelphi]

10. people who were paying close attention knew very well that these two had not

Reformed. Anyone observing how the very person (i.e. Timmy Geithner) who headed the New York Federal reserve and oversaw the entire shenanighans of the Banking Collapse, with his failing to attack the practices and actually partaking in the situation of letting it happen, knew well that they had not been reformed.

Both Kucinich and Issa grilled these people and make it impossible for someone like Obama to miss what was going on. But then, Obama had very important pledges to keep, to the Puppet Masters, and could not afford to watch those proceedings.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Which shows that Summers is aware of the axiom, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you"

[Nikki Stone1]

9. Exactly.

.

[dorkulon]

11. Even he can't really believe this.

Anybody else wonder if he bleeds acid?