So we have a former NY Fed official, deeply involved in the exchanges among the Fed and AIG and almost certainly the Treasury as well, now joining AIG. It isn’t hard to imagine that the reason he was hired was due to his intimate knowledge of how to move things along at the NY Fed and Treasury, and in particular, what Blackrock had told the NY Fed about Maiden Lane II and what the NY Fed’s return and political considerations were. The Treasury is not trying to protect the NY Fed from any information advantage AIG might have regarding the Maiden Lane II assets; Blackrock is certainly up to that task. It’s entirely about appearances of cutting a deal that favors AIG without that looking too bloody obvious.
So in this warped world of priorities, where giving financial firms great deals to “preserve the system” and cook the books on the TARP are top priorities, having an former insider grease the wheels is probably seen as really helpful. It’s merely another proof of what Simon Johnson pointed out in May 2009: the government is firmly in the hands of financial oligarchs.
— Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Gross has a terrific column on what banks should have to do before paying out dividends. First, he’s good to point out that handing out big dividends is a big payday for bank executives:
According to the most recent proxy statement, CEO James Dimon had beneficial ownership of 7.1 million shares. So the increase — 80 cents on an annual basis — is worth an extra $5.7 million per year to Dimon.
Gross makes this point that is far little made in the press:
The bailout of Fannie and Freddie was, in large measure, a bailout of the global banking complex…So a decent-size chunk of the aid taxpayers are providing to Fannie and Freddie ($130 billion so far, and up to $169 billion through fiscal 2012, according to Bloomberg) has gone directly to the banks in the form of interest payments. As long as they’re in a sharing mood, banks might consider sharing the wealth with the folks who saved their shareholders from further pain — American taxpayers.
And this last one is just sweet. Instead of Jamie Dimon giving his shareholders a raise, how about his poorly paid employees? Gross notes that bank tellers on average make less than twelve bucks an hour, while customer-service reps take home less than $16 an hour.
One of the big problems in the U.S. economy is that virtually all the gains of the past two years have accrued to people at the top of companies and to shareholders. Workers have generally received crumbs. This dynamic undermines the ability of people to consume, and to stay current on their debt. Just as it was in Henry Ford’s interest to pay his auto workers a living wage back in the 1910s, banks would do themselves a favor by improving their workers’ living standards. And they can’t claim that they don’t have the money or profits to do it.
Years ago I read a quote attributed to Volcker (can't find it now) to the effect that U.S. living standards will have to drop. Supposedly he said this circa 1979 or '80. That he is seen now as some kind of friend to the working person illustrates how far we've come as a nation.
As for Rortybomb's question, it's been obvious for a generation, with or without reference to the Fed's minutes. Here's me, in the fall of 1999, regarding Gramm Leach Bliley:
" The new law concentrates regulatory power in the Federal Reserve, the nation's most powerful and independent regulator . . . with the least direct concern for ordinary consumers. Greenspan's policy -- for which he takes credit for the nation's second longest sustained period of economic growth -- is to raise interest rates at the slightest hint of inflation, which he defines narrowly as increasing wages. For more than two decades the Federal Reserve has sought to hold wages down in deference to people whose income and wealth derive from ownership of stock portfolios and supermarket chains. He also disdains what he calls "outmoded loan file and balance sheet surveillance" -- the bedrock of today's regulatory model. Greenspan prefers to regulate by means of risk management, allowing the best and brightest financial minds to creatively determine the prudence of a given investment strategy. "
RB may as well look for evidence that water is wet.
#1 Posted by edward ericson jr., CJR on Wed 23 Mar 2011 at 01:25 PM