One of the most draconian and counterproductive interventions of the New Deal was the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. Not only did it effectively end the gold standard and establish a fascistic regulatory environment that undermined the global competitiveness of the U.S. banking industry, it also established the sham known as the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance [...]

Sheila Bair keeps speaking out, and certainly deserves respect as a clear-thinker in these abominable economic times. Bair reiterates the same message week after week, although most likely the cause of a few ‘Paulson & Co’ migraines.
Bair understands something that most taxpayers could have told Paulson a long time ago. While the Treasury busily attempts [...]

In 1932, Congress created the Federal Home Loan Banks to prop up thrift institutions during the Great Depression. Today, there are 12 regional Federal Home Loan Banks. Their main business is low cost loans to their more than 8000 owners, which include commercial banks, thrifts, credit unions, and insurance companies. Like Freddie Mac and Fannie [...]

On August 26, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation increased the number of banks it considers in danger of failure from 90 to 117 and responded indirectly to concerns about its ability to insure money on deposit at retail banking institutions. The FDIC is considering increasing the fee it charges retail banks to insure their deposits [...]

Not too long ago, I confess I was in a rather panicked state of mind about the economy. This was after Bear Stearns tanked but before IndyMac was seized by the FDIC. I thought that if the U.S. government could intervene in a big way and refinance homeowners who were facing foreclosure, then the free [...]

Recently, in an attempt to generate some calm in the wake of the IndyMac Bank failure, I published an article (on another website) about FDIC insurance and how it works. My intent was to settle some of the rampant fear that kicked off the week of July 15, 2008. I work in a bank, and [...]

As I write this, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson’s announcement that the Bush administration will indeed shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is all over the news and still sinking in. After opening slightly higher Monday morning, Wall Street dipped back into negative territory as analysts attempted to digest the bail-out news.
What can it [...]

The recent failure of IndyMac bank came after a week of constant reassurance from its corporate handlers that everything was fine, really, just fine. Then, on Monday, July 14, after a harrowing weekend spent scrambling for solutions to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mess, George Bush went before press conference cameras to reassure the [...]