Gretchen Morgenson reports on yet another fly-by-night bailout operation by the New York Fed:
The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America, came to light just last week in court filings.
That the New York Fed would shower favors on a big financial institution may not surprise. It has long shielded large banks from assertive regulation and increased capital requirements.
Still, last week’s details of the undisclosed settlement between the New York Fed and Bank of America are remarkable. Not only do the filings show the New York Fed helping to thwart another institution’s fraud case against the bank, they also reveal that the New York Fed agreed to give away what may be billions of dollars in potential legal claims.
This dovetails nicely with a Joel Kotkin piece that Glenn linked to earlier today:
Essentially, Obamaism increasingly serves as a front for the big-money interests who benefit from the Federal Reserve’s largesse and interest rate policies; progressive rhetoric serves as the beard for royalist results.
Overall, the impacts of ultralow interest rate, cash-machine policies of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke trump everything else. The presidential stimulus was, at best, modestly effectively, and certainly did little to turn around the fortunes of most Americans or spark much economic growth. Unemployment remains stuck at around 8 percent and 8.5 million workers have exited the labor force.
But the Bernanke policies have succeeded in reshaping the economic landscape in ways that, while good for the plutocracy and Wall Street, are not particularly positive for the vast majority of Americans.
“Too big to fail” really means “just right for Washington.”
I’ve long argued in favor of free markets for one simple and practical reason: It’s a bad idea to let the money guys get together with the political power guys. Without a wall of separation, to borrow a phrase, between the two, there’s no air for the rest of us to breathe.
Small business giving up? Your savings stopped generating any interest? Millions, whether rich or poor, permanently dependent on handouts? These are features, not bugs.
The men who own all the apple carts are seldom interested in seeing them tipped over.
The old maxim “Money is Power” comes to mind, but with an ironic twist. For the folks with money to get access to power, normally they have to “contribute” some to a politician, or a party, that they can get to “see things their way.” So they can purchase a little favoritism from the ruling elite…but in the Era of Bernanke, the principal payoff comes at the expense of overall dilution of the currency, thus reducing the value of the dollar — eventually, reducing the effective wealth of those attempting to purchase power!
I wonder how many of America’s connected rich folks have given that enough thought?
It’s ALWAYS about money and power. The marxists’ only twist on the thousands year old game is that they are completely amoral to boot. Attila the Hun was a principled saint compared to our current Huns.
Facists don’t need to nationalize business, they just need to control it. Buy off the big boys, let them keep their toys and insure that they stay bought. A few bosses, who are or think they are part of the elite are enough. At that point make sure they become practical monopolies, that no little guys can successfully compete with them- because then you have to control them, too, and too many bought bosses just make control difficult.
Let’s see, reduce the number of competitors you need to control …Obamacare … Dodd Frank… got to cut down on the numbers of utilities- ban coal … Yeah, moving right along.
“Some people rob you with a sixgun, some with a fountain pen.”
“A man with a briefcase can steal more money
“Than any man with a gun.”
(Don Henley)
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/fiscal_cliff-calculator-1701.php
Just thought this little reminder might help in figuring out what’s coming this April 15th. If not, at least ,is a reminder of what’s in store for We The People if Obama gets his “tax and spend” program off and running.
Did anyone see Bloomberg TV on 02/19/2013? Commentator along with two of Bloomberg’s early morning reporters, confirmed on the air, that Quantitative Easing made the top 1% of American citizens richer at the total expense of decimating the middle class.
AND, statistics prove, that a large chunk of America’s middle class slipped into the ranks of “poverty catagory” euphamistically called “low Income bracket!” We The Elite People of culture of corruption in Washington DC are sweating their “sweet patooties off!” over this four year hiatus of an administration budget, senate budget and unbridled “government assistance spending.” Pray. Amen. The cliff…she’s approaching, Boss, really fast!!!
See, 7.9% unemployment, reduced working hours, smaller takehome pay translate into… smaller bank deposits.Smaller bank deposits translate into, smaller loans. Smaller loans translate into, larger bank inventories of unsold real estate. Smaller takehomepay translates into lower retail sales, more retail stores closing and empty shopping centers. Wake up, for pete’s sake!!!