The Case Against Jamie Dimon: Oligopoly, Pain, and Systemic Risk in Five Slides

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon knew what he was talking about when he said that “”large corporate America is in very, very, very, very good shape.” It’s a crude and insensitive remark, but an accurate one. Unfortunately, the rest of us are still paying for the party. We bailed out the big bankers once, and […]

Young Americans: In Rejecting Jamie Dimon, Syracuse Students Speak for the Nation

When it comes to the economy, the color of wisdom is orange. Some students at Syracuse University are protesting the selection of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as their commencement speaker. They’re absolutely right: Dimon’s a poor role model. We should be proud that these students don’t want life guidance from someone who has made […]

Robert Rubin: Amoral, Blundering … And Still Influential in Washington

To call Robert Rubin an overpaid riverboat gambler would be to do a disservice to riverboat gamblers. To be sure, Rubin’s salesmanship, arrogance, and cold lack of remorse fit the mold. But no card sharp ruined as many lives as the former Treasury Secretary and Citigroup executive has done, and nobody of that despised class […]

Liveblogging the Financial Hearings: The Prince and the King

(we’re liveblogging the Financial Reform hearings. Come view the live feed here) 9:20 am Here in the Rayburn building Robert Rubin, the onetime King of American financial policy, is lecturing the Financial Commission on what he believes are the causes of the financial crisis. But that’s not why he’s here: He’s here not as a […]

In the Dark: A Good Prosecutor Type Would’ve Pinned Greenspan Down

Alan Greenspan’s testimony before the Angelides Commission certainly provided a target-rich environment, as they say in the Pentagon. Unfortunately the Commission missed all its targets, leaving the American public as undefended from financial depradation and ruin as it was before the hearing began. It was almost anticlimactic when the power failed during the final fifteen […]

Greenspan’s Testimony: Will the ‘Maestro’ Face the Music?

Alan Greenspan testifies before the Angelides Commission on Wednesday. Without wishing him any personal ill will, let’s hope he gets a grilling. We come not to bury Greenspan, but to … well, actually we do come to bury him. For the greater good of all, he and the radical philosophy he represents must be exposed […]

Resident Evil: Are Struggling Homeowners As Immoral As the Big Banks?

Do homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages deserve to lose their homes? That’s what finance commentator Barry Ritholtz says, in a post called “More Foreclosures, Please.” Ritholtz must have been channeling his inner Rick Santelli when he wrote that “the boom and bust saw irresponsible and reckless behavior by lenders and home buyers alike,” […]

The Trillion-Dollar Shadow

What secrets are hidden in the Federal Reserve’s trillion-dollar shadow? Economic recovery depends on confidence, and confidence requires knowledge. But Senators like Chris Dodd and Judd Gregg don’t want us to have that knowledge. They don’t even want it themselves. In Sen. Dodd’s case, he’s trying to give the Fed more authority (over consumer protection) […]

Meg Whitman’s Shady Goldman Sachs Past — Is It California’s Future?

Just when you thought you’d had enough of Goldman Sachs running things — and running them into the ground — along comes Meg Whitman. Most Californians know she’s using her fortune to run for governor. They probably don’t know that she was once on the board of Goldman Sachs, and most likely still would be […]