Blogs: Curbing Wall Street


Richard Eskow's picture

No Accountability in NY or DC: $15 Billion for Jobs, $20 Billion for Bonuses - and Dodd Still Wants to Compromise

When I worked in the Financial District back in the nineties, the big-shot investment types loved to talk about accountability. Almost all male, they loved macho posturing. They got big money because they took big risks, they'd say. They were the Danger Boys. They had to lay it all on the line every day.

But if there's one thing we've learned in the past couple of years, it's that Wall Street lives in a No-Accountability Culture. It's No Risk, All Reward. more »

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Richard Eskow's picture

No Accountability in NY or DC: $15 Billion for Jobs, $20 Billion for Bonuses - and Dodd Still Wants to Compromise

When I worked in the Financial District back in the nineties, the big-shot investment types loved to talk about accountability. Almost all male, they loved macho posturing. They got big money because they took big risks, they'd say. They were the Danger Boys. They had to lay it all on the line every day.

But if there's one thing we've learned in the past couple of years, it's that Wall Street lives in a No-Accountability Culture. It's No Risk, All Reward. more »

More »»


Richard Eskow's picture

No Accountability in NY or DC: $15 Billion for Jobs, $20 Billion for Bonuses - and Dodd Still Wants to Compromise

When I worked in the Financial District back in the nineties, the big-shot investment types loved to talk about accountability. Almost all male, they loved macho posturing. They got big money because they took big risks, they'd say. They were the Danger Boys. They had to lay it all on the line every day.

But if there's one thing we've learned in the past couple of years, it's that Wall Street lives in a No-Accountability Culture. It's No Risk, All Reward. more »

More »»


Richard Eskow's picture

Financial Reform: Reconciliation or Ritual?

The pheremonic scent of compromise is inducing euphoria in the nation's capitol once again. Not that there's anything wrong with compromise, if it results in policies that work. But we've just pulled ourselves back from the brink of financial meltdown, and tens of millions of households are experiencing their own economic catastrophes. This is no time to value process over outcome. The danger is that the desire to appear bipartisan may prevent us from creating a system that protects us from either collective or individual economic disaster. more »

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Richard Eskow's picture

Financial Reform: Reconciliation or Ritual?

The pheremonic scent of compromise is inducing euphoria in the nation's capitol once again. Not that there's anything wrong with compromise, if it results in policies that work. But we've just pulled ourselves back from the brink of financial meltdown, and tens of millions of households are experiencing their own economic catastrophes. This is no time to value process over outcome. The danger is that the desire to appear bipartisan may prevent us from creating a system that protects us from either collective or individual economic disaster. more »

More »»


Mike Elk's picture

How Big Banks' Interest-Rate Schemes Bankrupt States

Just when you thought Wall Street couldn’t get any more clever in their attempts at predatory lending, they have.

Big Banks have created an exotic financial  instrument that is the equivalent of a payday loan for cash-strapped state and local governments. innocently labeled an "interest rate swap."

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Richard Eskow's picture

Dodd & Corker's Financial Deal: "Bipartisan"? Sure. "Creative"? Maybe. Effective? No.

Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post waxed lyrical today about the compromise deal on financial regulations proposed Sens. Dodd and Corker, calling it a "creative bipartisan proposal." It's certainly "bipartisan," and it may even be "creative." What it isn't is effective. It's not just a compromise - unfortunately, it's also compromised. more »

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Robert Borosage's picture

Montana Initiative Against Pay Day Usury

In Oregon, citizens mobilized to pass progressive tax hikes -- on corporations and families making over $250,000 -- to help avoid cuts in children's and health care programs. more »

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Richard Eskow's picture

Shaft! As New Rules Begin, Credit Card Companies Find New Ways to Bilk Customers

Before we get to the specifics, here's what you need to know about the credit card companies: They're out to shaft you. They'll shaft you every chance they get. more »

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Richard Eskow's picture

Shaft! As New Rules Begin, Credit Card Companies Find New Ways to Bilk Customers

Before we get to the specifics, here's what you need to know about the credit card companies: They're out to shaft you. They'll shaft you every chance they get. more »

More »»