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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
January 26, 2010
/ 11 Shevat 5770
Why the economy is only getting worse
By
Jack Kelly
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The performance of the stock market was the one bright spot in the
otherwise dismal year for the economy in 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial
average rose 65 percent from its March low, causing many to hope it was
a harbinger of recovery.
President Barack Obama has fixed that. Last week the Dow fell 552
points in the three trading days since the president announced his plans
to "reform" the financial services industry.
Wall Street took in stride the president's announcement Jan. 15 he
intends to seek a tax on the 50 largest banks, perhaps because Wall
Street insiders expect the tax which his aides said should raise
between $90 billion and $117 billion over ten years to be passed
along to consumers.
What tanked the market last week was Mr. Obama's announcement Wednesday
he will seek legislation to limit the size of banks, to limit the
compensation of executives at banks which have received federal
bailouts, and to prohibit proprietary trading (trading for one's own
account) by bank holding companies.
There is something to be said for both proposals. It makes sense to
have banks which are considered "too big to fail," which are recipients
of emergency loans from the Federal Reserve, to pay into a fund from
which those loans might be drawn, as all banks pay for the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which reimburses bank depositors
when banks fail.
And forbidding bank holding companies from proprietary trading is, in
essence, simply a reinstatement of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall
Act, which was in part repealed (for bank holding companies) in 1999.
But the Devil is in the details, and in the timing. What is a good idea
in normal times can be a bad one in particular circumstances. Vigorous
physical exercise is good for most people most of the time, but not for
patients suffering from pneumonia.
Proprietary trading is a major profit center for bank holding companies,
at a time when few other banking activities are profitable. And the
taxes bankers pay are a major source of revenue for the governments of
New York State and New York City, both of which are nearly bankrupt.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted the president's plan at a news
conference Saturday.
Also uneasy about the plan is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who
fears it will harm the competiveness internationally of U.S. firms.
However, had the proposed new rules been in effect, they'd have done
next to nothing to prevent the financial meltdown. Lawrence White, a
former regulator who now teaches at New York University's business
school, described them as "a solution to the wrong problem."
The firms whose failures triggered the financial collapse Bear
Stearns, Lehman Brothers, the insurer American International Group
were not commercial banks or bank holding companies. There is no
evidence proprietary trading contributed to the meltdown.
The root cause, you'll remember, was sub-prime mortgage lending, home
loans to poor credit risks on ridiculously easy terms often no money
down for mortgages four or five times the (unverified) annual income of
the borrowers. Sub-prime lending was encouraged some might say
insisted upon by politicians in Washington.
Fly by night outfits such as Countrywide Mortgage were able to make such
loans again and again because two quasi-government corporations, the
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), both run by politically
connected Democrats, bought all the bad paper they could generate.
Fannie and Freddie are both bankrupt, kept alive only by massive federal
subsidies.
Mortgages were bundled together, chopped into pieces, and sold
throughout the financial system with the blessing of regulators, who
assumed the new financial instruments (chiefly collateralized debt
obligations and credit default swaps) would reduce risk. Instead, they
multiplied it.
The housing boom and bust was fueled by an easy money policy by the
Federal Reserve, begun when Alan Greenspan was chairman, but continued
when Ben Bernanke replaced him in 2006.
Absolutely nothing has been done about these root causes of the
meltdown. It would seem wiser to begin financial reform by addressing
them, rather than with "solutions to the wrong problem" that have been
proposed more to solve the president's political woes than our economic
ones.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.
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© 2009, Jack Kelly
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