You've Come A Long Way, Ben

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 05:01 EDT - Seeking Alpha

By Robert Kuttner:I heard a terrific speech last Friday by the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke. In his address, to a Russell Sage-Century Foundation Conference on the causes and cure of the financial crisis, Chairman Bernanke said just about everything a progressive would want to hear. Read it for yourself and see if you agree.The financial industry, he said, had been characterized by "high levels of leverage; excessive dependence on unstable short term funding; deficiencies in risk management in major financial firms; and the use of exotic and non-transparent financial instruments that obscured concentrations of risk." In other words, Wall Street went berserk; and markets did not correct themselves. Add a little more invective about Goldman Sachs and Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi could not have put it better.As for the regulators, "gaps in the regulatory structure" allowed very large firms and markets "to escape comprehensive supervision." There were "failures ofComplete Story »

Original article
Login or register to post comments

Bernanke warns shadow banking risks persist
CHICAGO — U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday that the shadow banking system still posed a threat to financial stability, and funding markets might still not be able to cope with a major default. In a wide-ranging speech explaining the Fed’s role in monitoring the health of the banking system, Bernanke also laid out how the central bank was looking at asset markets closely for signs of excessive risk taking.
"The Illuminati Were Amateurs" - Matt Taibbi Explains How "Everything Is Rigged"
From Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, back to his best, most floral of writing styles: Everything Is Rigged: The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever The Illuminati were amateurs. The second huge financial scandal of the year reveals the real international conspiracy: There's no price the big banks can't fix
Taibbi Is 'Barking Up the Wrong Tree' on Goldman Sachs and the Bubble
Pater Tenebrarum submits: Matt Taibbi, Squid Hunter Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine has made a name for himself as a prominent populist critic of Wall Street, most especially criticizing what is today considered the preeminent Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs (GS).
Rolling Stone's Taibbi Discusses SEC's Goldman Suit: Video
Rolling Stone's Taibbi Discusses SEC's Goldman Suit
In Praise of Matt Taibbi
The Columbia Journalism Review's Dean Starkman writes an able defense of Matt Taibbi against those who would drum him from journalism for using too many curse words or daring to express outrage beneath his byline.
Is The Administration Embracing a "Lock the Barn Door After the Horses Are Out" Theory of Financial Reform?
Goldman, The SEC and the New Face of Wall Street
James Picerno submits: Wall Street is a shadow of its former self, and not just because of the financial trauma in late-2008. Technology has long been reducing the relevance of big-city financial centers. Much of what passed as standard operating behavior among previous generations of bankers and money managers working in the financial canyons of New York, London and other cities can now be accomplished in the hinterlands, and probably at a lower cost.
Should Ben Bernanke Be Reconfirmed?
Ben Bernanke’s nomination to be reconfirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board passed out of the Senate Banking Committee and will next be taken up by the full Senate.

Main menu

Secondary menu

You've Come A Long Way, Ben

Related

Latest

User login

Our Blog

Markets Map

Follow Us

Secondary menu