ND20 Interview: Elizabeth Warren Says Big Banks Must Stop Blocking Reform
by ilene - July 13th, 2010 12:05 am
ND20 Interview: Elizabeth Warren Says Big Banks Must Stop Blocking Reform
Courtesy of Lynn Parramore at New Deal 2.0
Senate Dems are making the final push on financial reform this week, but will big banks really change the way they do business? Or will we still be pawns in a game rigged in their favor? I caught up with Elizabeth Warren to talk about the need to reform Wall Street culture, the pernicious influence of bank lobbies, and the debt-fueled threat to America’s middle class. **Warren will discuss these issues and more at this weekend’s Hamptons Institute symposium, sponsored by Guild Hall in collaboration with the Roosevelt Institute (details below).
LP: Has the financial crisis changed the culture of Wall Street?
EW: I would have expected the financial crisis to sweep through Wall Street like a hundred-year flood — wiping out old business practices and changing the ecology profoundly. So far, the financial services industry has seemed to treat the crisis like a little rainfall — inconvenient, but no significant changes needed. The real question moving forward is how the industry will respond to Wall Street reform and growing public anger. Will it react to all the new cops on the beat just by hiring more lobbyists? Will it continue to spend $1.4 million a day to beat back anything that could mean more accountability and oversight? Or will the financial services industry finally begin to rethink its business models, lobbying approach, and attitude toward the public?
LP: Have unregulated financial products slowed our economic recovery?
Let me put it differently: meaningful rules in the consumer credit market can accelerate economic recovery, I really believe that. Rules would increase consumer confidence and, more importantly, weed out all the tricks and traps that sap families of billions of dollars annually. Today, the big banks churn out page after page of incomprehensible fine print to obscure the cost and risks of checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages and other financial products. The result is that consumers can’t make direct product comparisons, markets aren’t competitive, and costs are higher. If the playing field is leveled and the broken market fixed, a lot more money will stay in the pockets of millions of hard-working families. That’s real stimulus — money to families, without increasing our national debt.
LP: Why is marketplace safety so much harder for people to accept than safety in…
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The Ugly Truth If You’re Looking For Work
by ilene - March 31st, 2010 6:15 pm
Karl’s advice for the unemployed seeking work: if you’re healthy, convey it. (Corollary — try to look good, sound good and radiate a healthful life-style if you make it to an interview. Do not whine about your family history of early heart disease and diabetes, no matter what). – Ilene
The Ugly Truth If You’re Looking For Work
Courtesy of Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker
A post on the forum jogged me on this Ticker that I was writing months ago and never finished…. and pushed it back to the top of the line. This is an echo of a topic I’ve raised a couple of times on Blogtalk as well, from my experience as a CEO and the "negotiator in chief" with health insurance companies during that time.
First, let me tell you how health insurance actually works from the employer perspective, because most people simply don’t understand this.
You probably have a line on your pay stub that says something like "Health Insurance: $100" or similar. You think that’s what it costs on your "group plan."
You’re wrong.
The rules for deductibility of insurance expenses provided to employees are relatively simple but have profound implications. Specifically:
- Employers cannot charge differential deductions. That is, if I am going to hit your check for $50, I must hit everyone’s check for $50. (I can have two deductions – one for "individual" and one for "family" coverage, but I can’t charge two individuals different deduction rates.)
- The majority of the actual expense for any particular person must exceed half of the total for the premiums to be deductible by the business from a tax perspective – that is, for the business to pay them with pre-tax dollars.
But in point of fact employees are individually rated. That is, a 20 year old male with no medical problems – that is, in excellent health – might cost $200 a month in premiums. The same…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the site