Courtesy of Pam Martens
Marketplace, an American Public Media Program, Interviews (left to right) Timothy Geithner, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke in March 2018
As you may have noticed by now, Wall Street On Parade is not buying the narrative that the $3 trillion that the New York Fed has pumped out to the trading houses on Wall Street since September 17 is part of routine open market operations that the Fed is legally allowed to do. We are also not buying the idea that if the same banks that backed away from lending during the financial crisis are doing so again today, this is not a matter that deserves an airing before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees.
Thus far, not one hearing has been held to examine why the New York Fed, for the first time since the financial crisis, has once again become the lender of last resort to Wall Street. Keep in mind that the $3 trillion in super cheap loans has not gone to commercial banks to assist the overall economy; the hundreds of billions of dollars each week are going to the Fed’s “primary dealers” which are the trading houses on Wall Street.
Hopefully, Congress is going to rise from its stupor on this subject in early December. The House Financial Services Committee, under the able leadership of Maxine Waters and a very talented roster of Committee members, will hold two hearings in the first week of December that might drill down to what is really going on in the arena of shrinking liquidity for loans by Wall Street banks while the stock market sets new highs. The House Financial Services Committee will hold the following two hearings:
December 4 at 10:00 a.m. – “Oversight of Prudential Regulators: Ensuring the Safety, Soundness, Diversity, and Accountability of Depository Institutions?”
December 5 at 10:00 a.m. – “Promoting Financial Stability? Reviewing the Administration’s Deregulatory Approach to Financial Stability.”
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