By Kathy G.
Kicking off this series of random yet connected observations -- Dean Baker should tell us how he really feels:
[. . .]
It's time that the media stopped covering up for Wall Street. The issue is not "nationalization," the issue is a bankruptcy type receivership for insolvent banks. It is absurd to pretend that this is prevented by trade agreements or anything other than the power of the shareholders and executives who run these banks.
As Baker had earlier noted:
I'm not sure whether this is the conference to which Baker is referring, but at any rate, it's nice to know Dean was wide awake, even if Larry Summers was sound asleep. And obviously I'd vastly prefer it that way, than the other way around.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that "TARP Said to Be Ripe for Fraud":
Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, told a House subcommittee that the government's experiences in the reconstruction of Iraq, hurricane-relief programs and the 1990s savings-and-loan bailout suggest the rescue program could be ripe for fraud.
[. . .]
Federal officials have already alleged TARP-related fraud. In January, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Nashville, Tenn.-based firm with defrauding investors of at least $6.5 million by claiming their money was invested in TARP and other securities that didn't exist. Mr. Barofsky's office is working with the SEC in investigating the case.
Continue reading "Scenes from the class struggle; or, don't give up on us, baby" »

