13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown

[Jefferson23]

** Interview from NPR discussing the book.




13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
By Simon Johnson and James Kwak

March 26, 2010 As Congress considers new financial regulations, Simon Johnson has some advice that will surely not be taken. But Johnson's advice does possess at least one virtue — you can sum it up in just a few words: If they're too big to fail, make them smaller.

Johnson and James Kwak are the co-authors of a new book, called 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown. The book opens on March 27, 2009, in the White House, where President Obama is meeting with the CEOs of some of the largest financial institutions in America. All 13 of these institutions played a role in the financial crisis. Looking back one year later, Johnson says that six of these banks — "The usual suspects; they're the megabanks" — are not just too big to fail; they're too big for the good of the American market.

The six: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The danger they pose, Johnson says, is that they're all so huge that if they fall into danger, the government will be forced to bail them out.

"You're going to have a conversation like this with either the Treasury secretary or with the president: Somebody is going to say, 'Let them just fail, just like we did with Lehman,' " Johnson tells NPR's Robert Siegel. "And someone else is going to say, 'Wait a minute. When Lehman went bankrupt that was an enormous disaster. That triggered a global financial panic. We can't do that. We must therefore save them, provide a bailout.' "

But even beyond the government's binding relationship with these enormous institutions, Johnson says that there's simply no virtue in letting a bank grow so huge.

remainder in full: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125226783

[Vincardog]

1. There's simply no virtue in letting a bank grow so huge. A FKG MEN

[Jefferson23]

2. The tough part will be getting our elected reps. to do what we all

know should be done. Joseph Stiglitz is another terrific source on this subject, a great man.

[Vincardog]

3. Getting OUR elected reps? The reps of the Corporate overlords more like it

[Jefferson23]

4. lol, I know that to be true, no doubt about it, that's why it will be very difficult.

But at least we do have some good guys, hopefully they will be making serious challenges for meaningful reform.

Seems we have to fight for every damn thing, despite having won so handily in the last election.

[truedelphi]

5. In my humble opinion, maybe we don't even need a government.

Just let AIG handle the financial end of things, have the United Health in Minnesota handle the Health Insurance end of things, let Monsanto control everything the way they already do.

It would save us tax payers on the tremendous and obscene expense of the Congressional/Senate salaries, the lobbyists and their needed funding from industry and maybe we'd end up with a small monetary break.

[erpowers]

6. Saw Today Show Interview

I saw Simon Johnson interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning. I came here to see if anyone had posted about or read the book. Some of it seems to be what other have said, but I would still like to read the book.

[Name removed]

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