Comments on: Paul Volcker

By: dumdedumdum

dumdedumdum — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:45:43 +0000

there's also an interesting aspect to the Volcker choice. One of the consequences of the wringing out of inflation in the early 80s was the run up of short term interest rates, which naturally took CD rates at S&Ls and banks up to 15 to 18 percent. So these institutions had to borrow short term at those high rates to fund assets (mortgages, in the case of S&Ls before widespread or even occasional use of mortgage backed securities in the financial markets) that were paying 5 or 6%. It's hard to run a bank like that for long, and many institutions got in earnings problems and balance sheet problems.

The Reagan Admin (with help from Congressional Democrats) addressed this by loosening the regulation of the savings and loan sector, which, combined with the go go economy that sprang up when oil prices dropped so drastically in the mid 80s, got us to the S&L fiasco of the late 80s and the subsequent bailout under Bush 1.

So there's an interesting symmetry in Volcker being directly involved in this later stage of what has been a long process.

By: sgwhiteinfla

sgwhiteinfla — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:43:50 +0000

Its great watching Nora O'Donnell continue to get PWNED by guests on the left who she wants to frame as angry about Obama's administration choices. She just had on Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org on and she kept trying to get him to rebuke Obama for keeping Bob Gates as Secretary of Defense. The guy shot her down over and over and kept hitting her with those pesky things called facts. She even had the nerve to ask if Bob Gates would carry out Obama's orders to get the troops home quickly. Does she really think he would have a choice? What a frikkin idiot! She then cut Jon off as he was explaining to her why Obama's orders will absolutely get followed and tried to get him all ginned up by asking if Votevets were caving in to Obama's administration since they weren't whining like supposedly some other unnamed people on the left are according to anonymous sources. Stolz shot her down again and pointed out that the problems with the Iraq war were centered around Rumsfield and Bush, not Gates. She was so vewwy vewwy sad that she couldn't get the cwazy weftist libwal to jump up and down and go all batsh!t cwazy that she just ended the interview and went to commercial. Yeah that liberal media bias comes shining through every day when Nora is on MSNBC lol.

By: Art Pepper

Art Pepper — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:37:06 +0000

Dee - It was predicted by swampland commenters (I'm too lazy to search) that once the GOP was out of power, the press would suddently remember they ought to question the government. I think the phenomenon you're seeing is that prediction come to pass.
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Not that the press *shouldn't* question the government. I'm all for it, and it would be a novel idea.
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Also, most of the sniping about appointments is just more Beltway gossipy stuff, at least what I've seen on cable "news". It's way easier than, say, learning about finance or economics.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:03:21 +0000

It's okay sga. This is just a cheap way for the tradmed to talk. They have no policies to point to. He has no power, other than his appointment decisions. So they have to work this angle.
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And, of course, the "change" he talked about was working together, crossing party lines, getting stuff actually done. The people he's been picking are certainly Can Do people. No Brownies in the bunch so far.

By: sgwhiteinfla

sgwhiteinfla — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:52:49 +0000

Here it is in full. The good part starts at around the 10:30 mark.

By: Friar Tuck

Friar Tuck — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:47:51 +0000

@Kathy - Gotta love Tweety!

As our current President continues to morph into "Nowhere Man," I think Obama's authority from here on out is pretty much whatever he decides it's going to be.

By: jayackroyd

jayackroyd — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:40:09 +0000

What's with the crack about economist PhDs? They aren't the ones argue for unregulated securities markets and permitting 30 to 1 leveraging.

By: sgwhiteinfla

sgwhiteinfla — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:35:32 +0000

The best part of Obama's press conference today was his answer to the last questioner who asked him about having people who worked in Washington before in his Cabinet and what he had to say about people who say that isn't change. Obama said exactly what every reasonable person had already said for him, that if he didn't use anybody associated with the last Democratic White House then he would have a cabinet full of people with no experience. And he went on to point out that it would be a ridiculous form or discrimination to exclude people on the basis of them having worked in the last Democratic administration. As soon as I find that part on a youtube clip I am going to link it here and do an article about it on kos.

By: kathy

kathy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:27:38 +0000

Obama emphasized, when asked, that it's been some time since Volcker's been involved in Washington. . Agree with Dee (and KT). After watching the pundits spend this last weekend lauding James Baker for suggesting that Obama really needs to be President now, to the point of wondering if a constitutional amendment moving up the transfer is in order, now that Obama's held 3 news conferences in 3 days, the come-on for Hardball tonight is "Is Obama overstepping his authority." Sheesh.

By: Karen Tumulty

Karen Tumulty — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:22:25 +0000

KT here--

Pourme: I'm counting on you for the caption invitational that I just posted.