Francesco Guerrera in the FT: Obama’s one-two punch misses its target

…it should not be impossible for a president who pledged to change Washington’s culture to introduce a note of competence and sobriety in his justifiable fight against banks.

Not that the financial industry has done much to deserve a more adult debate. Wall Street’s normally loquacious titans have so far been deafeningly silent. Their contributions to a battle that could shape their industry for years have been limited to private rants and a misguided attempt at suing the government. (Only bankers could think that hiring lawyers would increase their popularity.)

Here is a novel idea for banking chiefs: get down from your ivory towers and propose (not lobby for, propose) a plan to reduce reckless risk-taking without harming the financial system or the economy. A nation awaits.

Read the whole piece.

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Economy, Office of the President, Politics in General, President Barack Obama, The Banking System/Sector, The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

One comment on “Francesco Guerrera in the FT: Obama’s one-two punch misses its target

  1. Sarah says:

    RE: “Here is a novel idea for banking chiefs: get down from your ivory towers and propose (not lobby for, propose) a plan to reduce reckless risk-taking without harming the financial system or the economy.”

    Well we wouldn’t be in such a position had we allowed those banks that indulged in “reckless risk-taking” to go out of business, rather than taking individuals’ money and donating it to those same banks and now indulging in pontificating about the necessity of reducing “reckless risk-taking.”