Curbing Wall Street

A hedge fund manager's "investor letter" - really more of a staged, theatrical tantrum - has been getting a lot of attention lately. Daniel S. Loeb's diatribe demonstrates that banker greed is still out of control, and that it's as short-sighted and destructive as ever. The fact that Loeb is a registered Democrat and former Obama supporter doesn't matter as much as some people think. It's the same old story: Politics is just a means to an end, and the end in this case is self-enrichment.

If Loeb's pose as Hedge Fund Revolutionary seems like a ridiculous form of populism, remember: The Tea Party began with an angry outburst on the Chicago Board of Trade, from traders who were outraged that homeowners might be given a fraction of the aid bankers received. Loeb's letter is mostly a marketing ploy, but if he can become the Robespierre of the Hedge Fund Revolution I'm sure that would be fine with him too. more »

More »»

There's been a lot of talk recently about the enormous power that's been given to the Deficit Commission, which is co-chaired by Alan "Social Security recipients are milking it" Simpson and dominated by people who have advocated cuts to Social Security and more »

More »»

Millions of Americans are struggling to survive in the ruins of a once-healthy economy. A bipartisan frenzy of bank deregulation led to this catastrophe, and the financial reform bill passed this year is only a first step toward repairing the damage. We should be talking about the additional actions needed to prevent future disasters. But the "solution" being proposed by the Republican Party isn't just incomplete, or inadequate, or even incorrect.

It's insane. more »

More »»

It sounds like the plot to a dozen movies: Picture a corporation so powerful that its tentacles circle the globe and reach into the highest corridors of power. Yet a single sentence on an ex-employee's obscure website forces it to move into action. That sentence is so important that it leaves the corporation with no choice but to make that employee ... more »

More »»

Conservative economics has often felt like religious dogma, with its elevation of "a rising tide lifts all boats" to unintended extremes and its unfounded belief that lower tax rates create higher government revenue. But, at least as far as that second article of faith is concerned, Conservanomics is becoming a church without bishops. Leading conservative economists are abandoning the idea that lower rates create more revenue. Without its elders the "less brings more" tax school is becoming a decidedly fringe movement, the fiscal equivalent of a flying saucer cult. more »

More »»

Picture this: You're lying in the dark with a broken leg. Somebody comes by every couple of days to give you water and a little food, but you're wasting away. Suddenly a figure appears holding a candle. In the flickering light we see Tim Geithner's face. "Hey, there!" He says. "Do you realize that if we hadn't acted so promptly, both of your legs would be broken? Good news, huh? more »

More »»

There's a new undercurrent in Washington debate, an unstated drive to undo the bipartisan consensus that's governed American policy for a century. New pieces by Fareed Zakaria and Clive Crook merely reflect the new unspoken theme that's revealing itself in debates on taxation, Social Security, and a dozen other areas: If the wealthy must sacrifice anything, then the middle-class and poor must sacrifice at least as much. The old belief that greater fortune brings greater responsibility is under attack. The idea that "to those whom must has been given, much is expected" is being overthrown. more »

More »»

Mort Zuckerman's recent opinion piece in the Financial Times, "Obama needs to stop baiting business," is a tawdry, sorry spectacle. Paul Krugman's already explained how Zuckerman, the publisher of US News & World Report and the New York Daily News, distorted the President's words with a little Andrew Breitbart-style editing. While Zuckerman's proclivity for truth-twisting isn't a complete surprise, here's what is: If he's not lying about how he and his fellow CEOs are managing their businesses, then he and his friends are also incompetent executives.

In fairness to Zuckerman, let me be clear from the outset: I don't think he's an incompetent executive. more »

More »»

Somebody really, really doesn't want Elizabeth Warren to run the new Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, or "CFPB," which she first envisioned and proposed. Who? The big banks, for sure, as well as others who don't want their misbehavior brought to light. And Tim Geithner, whose vision of Wall Street and its problems is fundamentally different from Warren's. There are others, too - ideologues like Megan McArdle of the Atlantic, who has made something of a cottage industry out of attacking Warren on specious grounds.

The President's attempting to split the baby when it comes to appointing Ms. Warren, but the facts and public perception are aligned. They present him with a stark reality: He must choose between appointing Ms. Warren or placating the big banks. There is no Third Way. Unfortunately for the President, Elizabeth Warren is a yes or no question. more »

More »»

The "teachable moment" cliché may be overused, as Jason Linkins observed the other day, but what the White House really needed this week was a learnable moment. The Administration and other leading Democrats had an opportunity this week to understand the nature of the opposition they face. The President's remarks about Shirley Sherrod's firing suggest that this "learnable moment" may have been lost. Let's hope not. more »

More »»