Posts Tagged ‘Matt Webster’
“Breaking up big banks” is BS.
Former Secretary of Labor and cloying nudist Robert Reich has piped up in defense of Bernie Sanders, a transcript of whose interview with the NY Daily News seems to display some uncertainty regarding federal authority over large financial institutions.
But today the promise to go gangbusting on financial industries is a red herring raised ten years too late, and it’s improbable and dishonest coming from political candidates.
Dodd-Frank provides for federal liquidation and receivership of banks and other institutions even where the company’s board doesn’t want it to happen.
However, Sanders, Clinton and other pols who want to “break up the big banks” are ignoring the fact that these same institutions are the undisputed champions of complying with federal regulations.
That’s not easy to do, and it’s exactly how they got “too big” in the first place. Institutions grew so complex that they could profit from unethical practices that were NOT illegal, yet.
If certain companies made exactly the same mistakes today that they did ten years ago, yes, the FDIC would have the power to liquidate them now. It’s an appealing prospect to Americans who, rightly, feel cheated by the subprime lending scandal and bailouts that followed. And it’s not going to happen.
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Name this fighter!
I’ve been sick and unable to train this week, so in my free time I’ve put together a semi-scientific opinion poll (below) that will allow you, my dear readers and friends, to determine what my fighter’s nickname will be as I proceed in the great sport of Muay Thai kickboxing.
Opinion research is one of many industries I’ve toiled for in the past, long before the sad events that brought about my status as a desperately unsuccessful author. Corporate copywriting is another. Copywriters are frequently tasked with naming products and services. So I know what I’m doing. As Matthew Polly describes in his lovely book Tapped Out, there is a superstition in fight sports against giving yourself a nickname, so I’m offering this multiple choice poll as a compromise.
To give you some ideas about my character before choosing a moniker, I’m 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weigh a natural 155 pounds. I speak French well and German conversationally, started training for martial arts only nine months ago, and neither I nor anyone else will have a clue if I’m any good at it until the time comes to step over the ropes and compete, presuming that ever happens.
I need your vote to make this work! The more the merrier. Please share with friends if you feel like it.
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