Rein in Wall Street

Bernie Sanders

WALL STREET is still out of control. Seven years ago, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department bailed out the largest financial institutions in this country because they were considered too big to fail. But almost every one is bigger today than it was before the bailout. If any were to fail again, taxpayers could be on the hook for another bailout, perhaps a larger one this time.

To rein in Wall Street, we should begin by reforming the Federal Reserve, which oversees financial institutions and which uses monetary policy to maintain price stability and full employment. Unfortunately, an institution that was created to serve all Americans has been hijacked by the very bankers it regulates.

The Banks that are too big to fail- should not exist

13 Bankers. The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown.  (2010.) Johnson and Kwak.

The currently proposed reforms of Wall Street by the Obama Administration are too limited.   To protect our economy and our society we need to

1.     Re-establish the Glass Steagal act of 1933 which separates savings banks from commercial banks.

2.     Break up the banks that are too big to fail.

3.     Add  substantive regulation to the markets.

   This recent  work  develops the important thesis that the U.S. is being directed and exploited by an Oligarchy.  This Oligarchy protects  their profits and their privileges, they dominate the government.  And, they will continue to do so until they are stopped.  The authors argue that in the crisis of 2007/2009, which the oligarchy  created, the the rich seized billions of dollars for themselves.  They made massive profits from the economic disaster. The Great Recession cost  the homes, the jobs, and even the lives of working people.  It is devastating our schools. This is the nature of our current state.

13 Bankers has additional importance since it was published in Spring 2010 just as the Washington/ Wall Street debate on regulatory reform reached its zenith.