Huh?
They are "just insurance", except that they were specifically not called "insurance" because then they would have been required to be regulated.

That's the whole point. No regulation. No oversight.

The "uninsured alternatives" are going to bankrupt municipalities and pension funds all over the world that are "invested" in these instruments.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/01/28/springfield_left_its_fate_to_merrill/

Posted at May 29, 2008 1:17 PM in response to Today's Must Read

Bell,
You can catch the audio at Fresh Airs website. Greenberger is very good, especially his take on Paulson's "reform" proposals.

He also testified before the Senate last week on the manipulation of energy market futures trading.

Posted at May 29, 2008 12:59 PM in response to Today's Must Read

In early April, Terry Gross interviewed Prof. Michael Greenberger, who directed the Division of Trading and Markets from 1997-99. He explained the
credit market fiasco, and on Gramms role in it:

Greenberger:.....But since the late 1980s, a much more powerful system has developed, and that is called the--and it's often referred to as "complex derivatives." And essentially, the banking community developed these products, starting in the mid-'80s, and it's just developed a herd of steam since that time, and at this point in time worldwide, there is more money invested in derivative products than there are in stocks and bonds, which usually comes as a great surprise to many people.

And these derivative products, when you boil down to their fundamentals, are essentially bets on the direction that certain events will take place. ....

And those are private transactions. They are not easily made public. You can't open the newspaper and see what's happening. And when you enter into a bet, if you want the bet, the counterparty who takes the opposite end charges you a fee
for having that bet. That's a very profitable piece of business for banks and hedge funds to do. And so that's why this is called a shadow system. We don't see it in our day-to-day lives, and it goes on sort of in what people refer to as dark markets.

GROSS: And there's no regulation?

Prof. GREENBERGER: There is no regulation. In fact, when I was in the government, we argued very strenuously that these kinds of hidden bets could be very disruptive to the financial system, and they played as important a role as securities and bonds did, which are regulated. We wanted them to be regulated. That was a battle that we lost out on, and essentially, in December 2000 on the
floor of the Senate, Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced a piece of legislation that completely deregulated these markets, not only at the federal level but, for the most part, at the state level. So they are completely outside the law, so to speak.

GROSS: And what was this legislation?

Prof. GREENBERGER: It was called the Commodity Futures Modernization Act. It was a 262-page bill, and it was added as a rider to an 11,000-page omnibus appropriation bill as Congress was recessing for Christmas in 2000. I would say there was no one, except the drafters of the bill, who understood what it did, and I can assure you that the drafters of the bill were not members of Congress. They were the lawyers for the investment banks on Wall Street. They convinced Senator Gramm to introduce this, they freed the system from any regulation, and we've been embarking on financial fiascoes ever since.

The whole interview is painfully blunt.

http://prairieweather.typepad.com/the_scribe/2008/04/the-shadow-syst.html

Posted at May 29, 2008 11:41 AM in response to Today's Must Read

Good thinking. If only the Obama supporters would stop crying wolf, he might be able to actually win. But they can't, and he can't, and if Obama can't take the smear tactics from a pillar of the DLC, how's he going to stand up to mighty McCain?

All that talk about the HRC campaign spreading stories that 'Obama is Muslim', leaking smears to Drudge, Scaife, yada yada. 'Sniff, sniff'.

Hillary is a fighter! Onward Clinton Soldiers!

Posted at May 1, 2008 2:09 PM in response to Board Members from Robo Calling Nonprofit Criticize Effort, But Vouch for Group

Clinton folks on the board, Clintonista Holly Schadler as legal counsel.

http://www.wvwv.org/about/board-and-bios

Hey, what's a little voter suppression among friends? The HRC campaign has to do it now, because the GOP will be doing it come November. Atwater/Rove/Penn. It's a tradition.

Posted at April 30, 2008 2:21 PM in response to Nonprofit Women's Voices Women Vote Stops Suspicious N.C. Robo Calls

Mr. Phillips,

It's great to see you posting here and on Huffpo as well. The points that you mention here expand on some of the issues that you outlined in the last part of "American Theocracy", which I found to be quite good.

I'm curious about how you see the role of Greenspan & Robert Rubin contributing to this fiasco, especially the repeal of Glass Steagall in 1999. Dick Armey also lent a hand as I recall, in 2000.

I realize that de-regulation of the financial industry has been ongoing for 30+ years, but in your opinion, how big of a factor has it been?

Posted at April 15, 2008 7:49 PM in response to The Crisis of American Finance

"Lets unite with the one who actually gives up for the future."

Let's unite with the one who only cares about her own fading legacy.

Posted at April 14, 2008 1:58 PM in response to Owner Of Pittsburgh Steelers Endorses Obama

Is this a well-liked owner?

As a Pats fan, I'd say this about Rooney and the Steelers. I've never met any fans of any team who are more loyal than Steeler fans, and I've never heard any of them say a bad word about the Rooneys.

The Rooneys are also well respected by rival NFL organizations. In terms of longevity and excellence, maybe only the Mara's, owners of the Giants, are their equal.

Posted at April 14, 2008 1:27 PM in response to Owner Of Pittsburgh Steelers Endorses Obama

Everyone knows that the Steelers represent the latte drinking elite in America. Sniff.

This is excellent news for Hillary!

Posted at April 14, 2008 12:12 PM in response to Owner Of Pittsburgh Steelers Endorses Obama

If you thought Rove, Gonzalez, Harriet and the gang were the only ones thumbing their noses at Congress, you ain't seen nothing.

Wait until the Beavis & Butthead of Defense Contractors lawyer up. These guys were defending us from the GWOT!, so they shouldn't have to testify.

Posted at March 27, 2008 3:21 PM in response to Waxman Scheds Hearing for Twenty-Something Arms Contractor