Tag Archives: regulation

A thorough investigation of the financial collapse

The original Pecora investigation documented the causes of the economic collapse that led to the Great Depression. It was named after Ferdinand Pecora, lead counsel for the Senate Banking and Currency Committee investigation, whose inquiries established that conflicts of interest and fraud were common among elite finance and government officials.

The Pecora investigations provided the factual basis that produced a consensus that the financial system and political allies were corrupt. They did not divide the nation or divert its response to the economic crisis. The investigations discredited the elites that benefited from that system and were blocking reform. By identifying the most acute problems, Pecora provided the basis for Congress to draft specific legislation that restored public confidence in the financial markets and helped honest bankers. This staved off future crises in the U.S. for 45 years until the protections were removed by deregulation and desupervision.

The Pecora investigation teaches us how to create a successful investigation that can provide the basis for the fundamental reforms necessary to protect the nation from future economic collapses. Pecora was a prosecutor in New York that had brought cases against “bucket shops” (fraudulent sellers of securities) and corrupt politicians (primarily Democrats). He was not a financial specialist. These are the key factors that made Pecora successful and that need to replicated today:

Leadership and accountability

Pecora lead the investigation and conducted the questioning. There was no “bipartisan” fiction or friction: Pecora was in charge. A professional with expertise in investigations must conduct the questioning, as members of Congress cannot do so effectively. Pecora picked his aides, not Congress.
Pecora was non-partisan and known to be non-partisan.
Pecora was fearless.
Pecora was relentless and confrontational.
President Roosevelt personally and strongly supported Pecora.

Power

The broadest subpoena authority is essential.
No one, and no subject, is off limits to the investigation.
No special treatment for elites. Everyone testifies under oath.
No time limits that will encourage the subjects of the investigation and their political allies to stall. Pick a top investigator that wants to get the work done effectively and promptly but is willing to commit to stay as long as at takes to conduct a thorough investigation.
Conduct hearings that do not permit interference by witnesses’ counsel. Counsel can obstruct an investigative hearing if they are not limited to their proper role in such a setting (where evidentiary rules are not at issue). Witness counsel’s function at such a hearing is to advise their client as to whether they should assert their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Their function is not to make statements, ask purportedly clarifying questions, or assert objections. The Committee members must back up the new Pecora (and, of course, avoid similar interventions of their own that would disrupt the questioning). In this era, this will require tremendous, non-partisan self-restraint by Committee members.

Resources

Ample budget appropriated for multiple years. This must be done so that opponents of the investigation cannot impede it through the appropriations process


No political limits on how that budget can be used. No limits on the number of staff that can be hired.

“The Great American Bank Robbery”

William K. Black is interviewed by Bill Moyers. Black offers his insights of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout.

“William Black: Obama’s Regulation Proposal “Too Timid””

Fixing the Financial Crisis

James K. Galbraith, University of Texas economics professor, offers his insight.

http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1059571818/code/cnbcplayershare

Alternative Stimulus and Bailout Proposals

Click here to listen to the audio of session 6 of the 18th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the U.S. and World Economies. The order of the session is as follows:

Click here to see “No Return to Normal”, by James K. Galbraith, The Levy Economics Institute and University of Texas at Austin

Click here to see“Alternative Proposals for a U.S. Nonconvertible Currency Regime”, Warren Mosler, Valance Company, Inc.

Click here to see“Riding the Debt Deflation Guardrails”, Robert W. Parenteau, The Levy Economics Institute and MacroStrategy Edge

Click here to see“The Return of Big Government: A Minskyan New Deal”, L. Randall Wray, The Levy Economics Institute and University of Missouri–Kansas City

Minsky and the Regulation of the Financial System

Click here to read Jan Kregel’s presentation at the 18th Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference.