When the credit crisis struck last year, federal regulators pumped tens of billions of dollars into the nation's leading financial institutions because the banks were so big that officials feared their failure would ruin the entire financial system.
J.P. Morgan Chase, an amalgam of some of Wall Street's most storied institutions, now holds more than $1 of every $10 on deposit in this country. So does Bank of America, scarred by its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and partly government-owned as a result of the crisis, as does Wells Fargo, the biggest West Coast bank. Those three banks, plus government-rescued and -owned Citigroup, now issue one of every two mortgages and about two of every three credit cards, federal data show. (The Washington Post)
Obama administration will continue the policy of allocating unlimited resources to the banks.
Obama reappoints Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman
US President Barack Obama announced Tuesday morning that he would reappoint Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman. The nomination is expected to receive the required Senate approval.
Obama, who made the announcement during his vacation in Massachusetts, praised Bernanke’s conduct of monetary policy. According to Obama, Bernanke “approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free fall.”
The position of Federal Reserve Chairman is arguably the most powerful economic position in the US. The “Fed chief” oversees the central banking system, and therefore exerts a degree of control over monetary policy, including the overall supply and availability of money, as well as money’s cost or interest rate.
“It’s fair to say that Wall Street likes the decision,” commented Francesco Guerrera in the Financial Times’ Daily View. “The Wall Street Bankers I spoke to… feel that they can do business with a Federal Reserve headed by Ben Bernanke.” Guerrera noted that Bernanke has “gained the trust of Wall Street,” and that “the Financial Services industry feels that he has done a good job… mostly because he bailed them out with… billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.”
In fact, Bernanke’s reappointment represents the exact opposite of any move to reign in the speculative excess of the financial system. It signals that there will be no regulation on specific financial instruments, including credit default swaps and derivatives.
Above all else, the reappointment is an indication that the Obama administration will continue the policy of allocating unlimited resources to the banks.
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