Market Reforms A Scam, A Fraud, A Charade, A Lie by Jim Jubak

[Better Believe It]

By Jim Jubak
Jim Jubak is senior markets editor for MSN Money. Previously, he served as senior financial editor at Worth magazine and as editor of Venture magazine.

But what else did you expect from a package of "reforms" fronted by a Treasury secretary who was formerly the CEO of investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS, news, msgs), a package written by Treasury Department officials with input from Wall Street's biggest players? It's no coincidence that many of the plan's ideas echo those peddled by Wall Street lobbyists for years in the halls of Congress.

The plan throws the public and the politicians a few bones, but in reality the reforms have almost nothing to do with fixing the problems in the financial markets that have produced the current crisis. Instead, they're an astutely timed effort to use the current crisis to give Wall Street what it has wanted for years: less regulation.

Oh, to be sure, Wall Street and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are pretty adept at putting lipstick on a pig. The Federal Reserve would get broad new powers, we're told. The plan would combine regulatory agencies, ending overlap that, the plan's authors claim, contributed to the current crisis. Hedge funds and the other new kinds of investment vehicles that are at the heart of the current mess would have to supply the Fed with more information about their activities.

But that's all just window dressing. Let's look at what the Paulson plan would actually do:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/MarketReformsAGiftToWallSt.aspx

Jim Jubak

[JDPriestly]

1. Thanks for the link.

[Mojorabbit]

2. Great article. Thanks. n/t

[Karenina]

3. K&R!