Greek deal puts Goldman Sachs in the firing line – again
The US investment bank dubbed the ‘vampire squid’ for its global reach is exemplary in managing risk but less successful in negotiating conflict
It is the most profitable investment bank on the planet, and is viewed as an awesome money-making machine that runs rings around its rivals and rewards its high fliers with jaw-dropping multibillion-pound bonuses. [...]
Wall Street bonuses top $20bn
• Huge payouts will be a ‘bitter pill’ for many• Investment banks on track to make $55bn profit for 2009
Total Wall Street bonuses since 1985 (pdf)
Despite calls for restraint in multi-million dollar pay packages, Wall Street bonuses jumped by 17% to $20.3bn (£13bn) for 2009 as America’s financial services industry rebounded swiftly from the credit [...]
Wells Fargo chairman is America’s highest paid banker
John Stumpf, who came from a poor farming family, earned $18m last year, double the pay of Goldman Sachs boss
A former Minnesota farm boy who began his working life as a baker has become America’s highest-paid banking boss by taking a sceptical view of Wall Street’s trading floors and scorning the financial industry’s penchant for [...]
Obama and the ’savvy’ bankers | Dean Baker
In an interview, the US president described the Goldman Sachs CEO as ’savvy’. So how did he and his crew use their wisdom?
Last week, when President Obama was asked about the $9m dollar bonus for Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, he described Blankfein as a savvy businessman, adding that Americans don’t begrudge people being rewarded [...]
Walking away from negative equity | Dean Baker
For millions of Americans with ‘underwater’ mortgages, sending the keys back to the bank could be the cheapest option
It is probably best to leave the gods out of discussions of economic policy, but this barrier was breached in November when the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told an interviewer that Goldman Sachs was doing [...]
Geithner accused of incompetence over his role in AIG bailout
• $182bn AIG bailout a tragic choice, says Timothy Geithner • Congress furious at Geithner for repaying AIG’s bank loans
The US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner was accused of incompetence, obfuscation and of making “lame excuses” during a furious hearing on Capitol Hill over the government’s contentious bailout of the sprawling insurer AIG.
In an unusually [...]
Don’t be stupid with the economy | Dean Baker
If Ben Bernanke is approved for a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve Board, the decision will ignore his key mistakes
The US Senate’s decision on approving Ben Bernanke for a second term as chair of the Federal Reserve Board is coming down to the wire and the Wall Street crew is once again [...]
Obama’s bank reforms will plug a financial black hole | Ruth Sunderland
We supporters of the US’s Glass-Steagall Act used to be regarded as eccentrics. Now the most powerful man in the world is backing it
Not so long ago, fans of bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act – American Depression-era legislation that separated utility banking from casino speculation – were considered members of an eccentric and tiny minority.
Now [...]
What does the war on Wall Street mean for the big banks?
The megabanks could be split up – or might turn into footloose investment banks again
More details please. On Thursday President Obama declared war on Wall Street – but what would victory look like? On day one, it seemed as if a break-up of JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs [...]
Obama’s battle of the banks | The Spoon
Barack Obama’s proposal to curb Wall Street’s big banks could end up damaging the US economy – and the presidency
For someone who has just had been honoured by the president, having had the latest bank-busting reform named after him, Paul Adolph Volcker looks as sad as Droopy Dog. Maybe he’s still long of the banks, [...]
