Tag Archives: banksters

The Love of Money

Posted on April 3, 2013 by | 2 comments

NEP’s Randy Wray appeared on radioLitopia discussing Money, Banksters, Austerity and other issues. You can listen using the player below or visit radioLitopia’s site [some have reported having problems with the embedded player].

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The SEC embraces irony – its enforcement “inflection” “point”

Posted on March 18, 2013 by | 5 comments

By William K. Black

Many readers doubtless shared my doubt that the SEC was capable of exercising the critical self-examination and sense of humor about itself as a flawed institution that would make it capable of deliberate irony.  When I accessed the Wall Street Journal’s home page I found the most delicious example of SEC (and WSJ) irony.  The WSJ synopsis of its article on the SEC reads: “The SEC is filing significantly fewer civil fraud cases this year, as its efforts to punish misconduct related to the financial crisis start to ebb.”

“Start to ebb?”  Is it only me, or have other readers missed the tidal bore of SEC enforcement cases “punishing” the “misconduct” of the most culpable, elite perpetrators of what, even conservative, finance scholars describe as “pervasive” accounting control fraud by our “most reputable banks”?  Continue reading →

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Which Aspect of the FDIC’s Litigation Failures is the Most Embarrassing and Damaging?

Posted on March 12, 2013 by | 9 comments

By William K. Black
(Cross posted at Benzinga.com)

On March 11, 2013 the Los Angeles Times published a revealing article by E. Scott Reckard entitled:  “In major policy shift, scores of FDIC settlements go unannounced.”

The article’s summary statement captures the theme nicely.  “Since the mortgage meltdown, the FDIC has opted to settle cases while helping banks avoid bad press, rather than trumpeting punitive actions as a deterrent to others.” Continue reading →

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The latest failed effort to blame the Community Reinvestment Act for Accounting Control Fraud

Posted on March 4, 2013 by | 15 comments

By William K. Black
(Cross posted at Benzinga.com)

Introduction

The latest effort to blame the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for the epidemic of accounting control fraud that drove the crisis is an econometric study by Sumit Agarwal, Efraim Benmelech, Nittai Bergman, and Amit Seru (“the authors”) (“ABBS 2012”).  The study does not prove its thesis.  The fact that the authors claim it proves causality makes obvious their controlling biases.  Their title is “Did the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Lead to Risky Lending?”  Their abstract answers: “Yes, it did.”  They claim that their econometric study proves causality – which is impossible given their methodology.  The authors were taught from their freshman years that an econometric study of this nature could not prove causality.  Errors this basic and embarrassing demonstrate the crippling grip of the authors’ biases.

Continue reading →

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The Economic Crisis: Causes, Consequences, and What’s Next

Posted on February 24, 2013 by | 4 comments

As part of it’s Annual Colloquium Series, The Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at UCLA  is sponsoring “The Economic Crisis: Causes, Consequences, and What’s Next.” NEP’s Randall Wray is appearing along with Frank Partnoy and Robert Brenner on Monday, 25 February 2013 2:00-5:00 pm, in the History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche on the UCLA campus.

The speakers will consider the origins and results of the ongoing global economic crisis. They will give special attention to the rise of finance and the role of financial markets and institutions in its onset, spread, and ultimate consequences. How has the meltdown of Wall Street, its bailout by government, and its apparent recovery affected the macro-economy and the future of finance itself? Are the great banks and other leading financial institutions now more or less likely to experience new meltdowns in the foreseeable future? Will the real economy see a new surge of growth, continuing stagnation, or renewed crisis? These are only some of the issues that will be addressed at this colloquium.

For more information call Center for Social Theory and Comparative History (310) 206-5675 or email [email protected]

 

 

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A job should be a right, not a privilege!

Posted on February 20, 2013 by | 34 comments

NEP’s Marshall Auerback appears on the Thom Hartman program, 20 February 2013, discussing limits on banksters’ salaries and bonuses. There is some discussion of jobs guarantee near the end of the segment (near 9:00 mark).

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Yglesias mimics “Mankiw Morality” and bashes Bastiat

Posted on February 4, 2013 by | 4 comments

By William K. Black 
(Cross posted at Benzinga.com)

Roger Erickson brought to my attention a column by Matthew Yglesias that relates to the ethical issues I was discussing in my column yesterday about Yglesias’ ode to GHB (Geithner, Holder, and Breuer’s doctrine of immunity for the largest banks).  (In deference to Yves’ endocrinologist, I am renaming it GBH (Brit-speak for “grievous bodily harm”).

Continue reading →

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Speak the Truth to Power: Back Bill Black

Posted on February 1, 2013 by | 5 comments

America needs its financial sector cleaned up and Bill Black tirelessly presses for this to happen!   

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Yglesias pours the Geithner, Holder, Breuer (GHB) banksters immunity doctrine in our drinks

Posted on January 31, 2013 by | 21 comments

By William K. Black

It’s early, but Salon has published on January 30, 2013 either the funniest or saddest column of the year to date: “Are Banks Too Big To Prosecute?” 

The column is attributed to Matthew Yglesias, a blogger who studied philosophy as an undergraduate.  It could be a brilliantly ironic satire of the Geithner, Holder and Breuer doctrine of immunity for banksters (which I am dubbing “GHB” for short).   GHB is the “roofie” that the Obama administration gave us so the banksters could screw us repeatedly with impunity.  Alternatively, and far more likely, Yglesias has written the saddest and most immoral apologia for elite white-collar crime that has yet made it into electronic bits.  It takes a rerouted beginning student of philosophy, posing as a commentator on finance, to replace what should be a discussion that includes virtue ethics with a virtue-free, criminology-free, and economics-free apologia for the felons who became wealthy by costing the Nation $20 trillion and 10 million jobs.

Continue reading →

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NEP’s William Black in Davos

Posted on January 28, 2013 by | 5 comments

William Black’s Speech at the 2013 Public Eye Awards in Davos Switzerland.

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