Sometimes too big to Regulate, is just plain TOO Big!
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170 Top Economists ‘Feel The Bern,’ Endorse Bernie Sanders’ Wall Street Reform Plan
Jan 15, 2016
It seems as though nearly 200 of the nation’s top economists “feel the Bern,” as they release a letter publicly endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ plans for Wall Street reform.
The letter was signed by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who, under the Clinton Administration in the 1990s, oversaw a huge increase in employment and who has, like Bernie Sanders, been pushing for an increase in the minimum wage and heavier restrictions and higher taxes on corporations. Along with Robert Reich, University of Texas Professor James K. Galbraith, Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC., Brad Miller, former U.S. Congressman from North Carolina, and William K. Black, University of Missouri-Kansas City openly and enthusiastically endorsed the Sanders plan to reform Wall Street. [...]
For free markets to work, there must be enough players to drive true competition.
For free markets to fail, there just needs to be too few players, with far too much power.
Here is the text of of the Sanders Endorsement from those 170 Top Economists
ECONOMISTS AND FINANCIAL EXPERTS IN FAVOR OF SEN. SANDERS’ WALL ST. REFORMS
In our view, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan for comprehensive financial reform is critical for avoiding another “too-big-to-fail” financial crisis. The Senator is correct that the biggest banks must be broken up and that a new 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, separating investment from commercial banking, must be enacted.
Wall Street’s largest banks are now far bigger than they were before the crisis, and they still have every incentive to take excessive risks. No major Wall Street executive has been indicted for the fraudulent behavior that led up to the 2008 crash, and fines imposed on the banks have been only a fraction of the banks’ potential gains. In addition, the banks and their lobbyists have succeeded in watering down the Dodd-Frank reform legislation, and the financial institutions that pose the greatest risk to our economy have still not devised sufficient “living wills” for winding down their operations in the event of another crisis.
Secretary Hillary Clinton’s more modest proposals do not go far enough. They call for a bit more oversight and a few new charges on shadow banking activity, but they leave intact the titanic financial conglomerates that practice most shadow banking. As a result, her plan does not adequately reduce the serious risks our financial system poses to the American economy and to individual Americans. Given the size and political power of Wall Street, her proposals would only invite more dilution and finagle.
The only way to contain Wall Street’s excesses is with reforms sufficiently bold and public they can’t be watered down. That’s why we support Senator Sanders’s plans for busting up the biggest banks and resurrecting a modernized version of Glass-Steagall.
Signers (Institutional listing for identification purposes only):
1. Robert Reich, University of California Berkeley 2. Robert Hockett, Cornell University 3. James K. Galbraith, University of Texas
4. Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
5. Christine Desan, Harvard Law School
6. Jeff Connaughton, Former Chief of Staff, Senator Ted Kaufman
7. William Darity Jr., Duke University
8. Eileen Appelbaum, Center for Economic and Policy Research
9. Brad Miller, Former U.S. Congressman and Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute
10. William K. Black, University of Missouri-Kansas City
11. Lawrence Rufrano, Research, Federal Reserve Board, 2005-2015
12. Darrick Hamilton, New School for Social Research
13. Peter Eaton, University of Missouri-Kansas City
14. Eric Hake, Catawba College
15. Geoff Schneider, Bucknell University
16. Dell Champlin, Oregon State University
17. Antoine Godin, Kingston University, London, UK
18. John P. Watkins, Westminster College
19. Mayo C. Toruño, California State University, San Bernardino 20. Charles K. Wilber, Fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre [...]
Click the link above to see the other 150 Economists, "Feeling the Bern" ...
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Here’s Robert Reich, using his white board, to explain the problems with our current banking system:
The Big Picture: Tame Wall Street
link
For Americans to get a fair break, we must not be afraid to step up and Regulate the Banks, who have proven that they have no incentive whatsoever, to regulate themselves.