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shadowkatGot a little nervous today with all the articles I saw in the news regarding the banks - so called mine to determine it they were FDIC Insured. Lehemans' Brothers was a 158 year old bank that declared bankruptcy yesterday and cost 26,000 people their jobs. [ETA: Apparently The British Bank "Barclays" swooped in today to save Leheman Brothers and is going to acquire a portion of it, saving 10,000 jobs. Go here:http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/Default.aspx?ArID=85869. Bank of America saved Merrill Lynch. And the Federal Reserve Board bailed out AIG to the tune of 85 billion dollars. (This is on top of Freddi Mac and Fannie Mac bail out) Okay, out of curiousity - where are they going to get this money without raising taxes? Why? Because if they failed...]
So I called my Dad, the financial guru (okay maybe not, but close enough) and the banks. I'm fine by the way, not that you care, and in case your curious about whether or not you are fine
go here:
http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/information/fdiciorn.html
What is the FDIC? Good Question.
The FDIC started in the 1930s under FDR after the Big Crash that sent the US tumbling into the Great Depression. It was started as a means to get people to put their money in banks again and not just hide it under their mattresses. What it means? You are insured up to $100,000 dollars in checking and savings and money market accounts. A good way to check, call your bank. If anything happens, such as the bank fails or declares bankruptcy, which is what happened with Lehman Brothers and could happen to Washington Mutual - your money is safe, it is insured. The Federal Government will step in and reimburse you.
Go here for a history lesson: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/firstfifty/
and here: http://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/symbol/index.html
What happened on "Black Monday" did not surprise me in the least.
Why? I've been expecting it to happen pretty much since 2003, when the Finance Industry and Real Estate Industries went bonkers. OR what I like to call Capitalism gone insane. What happened? Well, in a nutshell, over a series of years, the federal government deregulated private industry. It wasn't just Bush, by the way, Clinton, Regan, Bush Jr, Carter, and Nixon all had a hand in it. Bush Jr just went a bit overboard to the glee of the free market capitalists.
Now, I should probably tell you that I'm no fan of regulations. They make my life a living hell. I've worked in two highly regulated industries - health insurance and government. My job as a contract administrator, requires me to ensure the regulations are followed, the forms filled out, prior to any money being paid. The number of regulations and forms I have to keep track of on a daily basis would make your head spin around. The banking industry is also regulated but not as much as the other two, I know because I also worked as a contract administrator for a bank. Prior to this I took regulatory law in law school, worked in a fiscally conservative state legislature, took administrative law, and business and corporate law. Trust me - I know my way around regulations. Academics make me laugh - they don't know regulations - they think they do, but unless you have had to find a way to cut through them, you don't know them. Reading a book baby ain't the same as real life experience.
That said, people are selfish and greedy bastards particularly when it comes to money. Anyone who believes otherwise is a tad niave or needs to watch more reality shows. Regulations keep them in line. The regulations would not exist if this were not true.
There is of course a case to be made for balance. If you "over-regulate" - then nothing can get done and it becomes a bit like that scene in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe with idiotic bureaucrats who slow things down to a crawl. If you under-regulate or do away with them entirely, which many fiscal libertarians and conservatives desire, then you end up with what is happening now - Black Monday. John McCain says it's greed and that we need to do an in-depth investigation - god knows how he plans to pay for this (Also DUH! That's why we regulate, you nitwit). Obama states that it is due to a lax in regulations and what we need to do is change the regulatory law.
What does this mean?
Well here's some links:
Alphabet Soup Brings you Laws and Regulations including the Federal Reserves - these are the ones currently in effect.
Wiki Article on Banking Reguluation not hugely reliable but helpful
Deregulation of the Banking Industry:
Clinton and Republicans Agree to Deregulate Banks from the World Socialist Web Site, yes I know not the most reliable in the universe.
About.com article describing what deregulation means to banks
This is an interesting one - a journal article on the historical and economic effects on banking deregulation:
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:pem04i-U164J:research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/03/07/Strahan.pdf+Deregulation+of+Banks&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us
If that doesn't work go here for the PDF file:http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/03/07/Strahan.pdf
Old New Times Commentary: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFD71730F934A35750C0A965958260
Interesting Blog Entry by a professor of Public Policy: http://www.robertreich.org/reich/20080229.asp
Banks Have Merged Due to Deregulation by Reagan into the Monster Under the Bed
A Paper Detailing the Historical Perspective of Deregulation
From the Social Studies Help Center - Bank Deregulation under Carter and Reagan Administrations
Explains why the Banks were Deregulated
an Atlanta Constitution Article on Deregulation
Might be the most reliable for Deregulation Definitions and articles, or the least biased
Wikipedia article on deregulation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation
The Skinny: Deregulation was done to help small businesses, and allow banks to merge and acquire other investment properties, providing more services. The problem is that it got out of control and many banks over-extended themselves such as Lehmen Brothers, Citigroup, Bear Sterns, and Merrill Lynch. They also deregulated the mortage and real estate industries, which added to the crisis. This happened before in the 1980s - when we entered the first recession - which by the way was about the time of Bush, Sr. and right after Reagan. That was by the way, after Reagan deregulated the Banks and weakened the anti-trust bill, allowing an increased number of mergers and acquisitions, much like now.
John McCain like most fiscal conservatives is against regulation. And prefers to let the market work itself out. His view is that a few "crooks" spoiled the pot and we need to grab them. I know because I've debated this topic until I was hoarse with fiscal conservatives. Obama like most fiscal liberals or non-conservatives wants more regulations. Actually, I don't think he's as liberal as some people think, Clinton certainly wasn't. Obama seems to be somewhat moderate, but we've drifte so far to the right or "ultra-conservative" that moderates are seen as liberal. We've become in my opinion extremists, and can't quite find the middle. Until we do...
At any rate...if you don't like my links, hunt your own. I've got to make dinner before it gets too late.
So I called my Dad, the financial guru (okay maybe not, but close enough) and the banks. I'm fine by the way, not that you care, and in case your curious about whether or not you are fine
go here:
http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/information/fdiciorn.html
What is the FDIC? Good Question.
The FDIC started in the 1930s under FDR after the Big Crash that sent the US tumbling into the Great Depression. It was started as a means to get people to put their money in banks again and not just hide it under their mattresses. What it means? You are insured up to $100,000 dollars in checking and savings and money market accounts. A good way to check, call your bank. If anything happens, such as the bank fails or declares bankruptcy, which is what happened with Lehman Brothers and could happen to Washington Mutual - your money is safe, it is insured. The Federal Government will step in and reimburse you.
Go here for a history lesson: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/firstfifty/
and here: http://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/symbol/index.html
What happened on "Black Monday" did not surprise me in the least.
Why? I've been expecting it to happen pretty much since 2003, when the Finance Industry and Real Estate Industries went bonkers. OR what I like to call Capitalism gone insane. What happened? Well, in a nutshell, over a series of years, the federal government deregulated private industry. It wasn't just Bush, by the way, Clinton, Regan, Bush Jr, Carter, and Nixon all had a hand in it. Bush Jr just went a bit overboard to the glee of the free market capitalists.
Now, I should probably tell you that I'm no fan of regulations. They make my life a living hell. I've worked in two highly regulated industries - health insurance and government. My job as a contract administrator, requires me to ensure the regulations are followed, the forms filled out, prior to any money being paid. The number of regulations and forms I have to keep track of on a daily basis would make your head spin around. The banking industry is also regulated but not as much as the other two, I know because I also worked as a contract administrator for a bank. Prior to this I took regulatory law in law school, worked in a fiscally conservative state legislature, took administrative law, and business and corporate law. Trust me - I know my way around regulations. Academics make me laugh - they don't know regulations - they think they do, but unless you have had to find a way to cut through them, you don't know them. Reading a book baby ain't the same as real life experience.
That said, people are selfish and greedy bastards particularly when it comes to money. Anyone who believes otherwise is a tad niave or needs to watch more reality shows. Regulations keep them in line. The regulations would not exist if this were not true.
There is of course a case to be made for balance. If you "over-regulate" - then nothing can get done and it becomes a bit like that scene in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe with idiotic bureaucrats who slow things down to a crawl. If you under-regulate or do away with them entirely, which many fiscal libertarians and conservatives desire, then you end up with what is happening now - Black Monday. John McCain says it's greed and that we need to do an in-depth investigation - god knows how he plans to pay for this (Also DUH! That's why we regulate, you nitwit). Obama states that it is due to a lax in regulations and what we need to do is change the regulatory law.
What does this mean?
Well here's some links:
Alphabet Soup Brings you Laws and Regulations including the Federal Reserves - these are the ones currently in effect.
Wiki Article on Banking Reguluation not hugely reliable but helpful
Deregulation of the Banking Industry:
Clinton and Republicans Agree to Deregulate Banks from the World Socialist Web Site, yes I know not the most reliable in the universe.
About.com article describing what deregulation means to banks
This is an interesting one - a journal article on the historical and economic effects on banking deregulation:
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:pem04i-U164J:research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/03/07/Strahan.pdf+Deregulation+of+Banks&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us
If that doesn't work go here for the PDF file:http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/03/07/Strahan.pdf
Old New Times Commentary: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFD71730F934A35750C0A965958260
Interesting Blog Entry by a professor of Public Policy: http://www.robertreich.org/reich/20080229.asp
Banks Have Merged Due to Deregulation by Reagan into the Monster Under the Bed
A Paper Detailing the Historical Perspective of Deregulation
From the Social Studies Help Center - Bank Deregulation under Carter and Reagan Administrations
Explains why the Banks were Deregulated
an Atlanta Constitution Article on Deregulation
Might be the most reliable for Deregulation Definitions and articles, or the least biased
Wikipedia article on deregulation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation
The Skinny: Deregulation was done to help small businesses, and allow banks to merge and acquire other investment properties, providing more services. The problem is that it got out of control and many banks over-extended themselves such as Lehmen Brothers, Citigroup, Bear Sterns, and Merrill Lynch. They also deregulated the mortage and real estate industries, which added to the crisis. This happened before in the 1980s - when we entered the first recession - which by the way was about the time of Bush, Sr. and right after Reagan. That was by the way, after Reagan deregulated the Banks and weakened the anti-trust bill, allowing an increased number of mergers and acquisitions, much like now.
John McCain like most fiscal conservatives is against regulation. And prefers to let the market work itself out. His view is that a few "crooks" spoiled the pot and we need to grab them. I know because I've debated this topic until I was hoarse with fiscal conservatives. Obama like most fiscal liberals or non-conservatives wants more regulations. Actually, I don't think he's as liberal as some people think, Clinton certainly wasn't. Obama seems to be somewhat moderate, but we've drifte so far to the right or "ultra-conservative" that moderates are seen as liberal. We've become in my opinion extremists, and can't quite find the middle. Until we do...
At any rate...if you don't like my links, hunt your own. I've got to make dinner before it gets too late.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-16 11:58 pm (UTC)but yeah, deregulation is a basic principle that Republicans love even though it has directly resulted in the Enron scandal, the predatory lending practices, the housing crisis, the current bank failures, AND the high price of gas!
But God forbid that they should ever rethink their policies!
*eyeroll*
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 02:15 am (UTC)swipedcopied it.Have you seen this one:
Bullwinkle Assassinated (http://blueherald.com/2008/09/bullwinkle-assassinated/)
One of my co-workers gave it to me at work the other day.
Also the Stephen Colbert satirical video - in which Colbert states Sarah Palin should be President:
http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/09/03/stephen-colbert-wants-sarah-palin-for-president/
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 02:26 am (UTC)