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The Recession Will End… When Obama Tames the “Fat Cat” Bankers
“I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street.” (via 60 Minutes)
Well, it looks like the recession is back on. Despite comments over the weekend from Larry Summers who said that “everybody agrees that the recession is over,” there’s still that niggling problem of 10 percent unemployment. And outsized bonuses on Wall Street, which only create a further disparity between the rich and everyone else. Populist rage over the bonuses and Obama’s claim that he gives his record so far a “solid b-plus” are a sign that people are mad, and not ready to call an end to the tough times—because they’re still experiencing them.
Just this week, we’ve already recorded 58,905 layoffs in our daily Screwed feature. Many of them are happening outside our borders, but it’s a small, interconnected world. Troubles elsewhere are going to ripple around the world. Stateside, a recession-record low of 11,000 layoffs in November is good news, but unfortunately, it doesn’t imply job creation.
And no one’s helped by the fact that Wall Street isn’t paying attention yet. Three bank heads failed to show up in Washington for their task-taking by the President yesterday, delayed, they claimed, by the weather. Some commentators think they could have considered transportation options outside of their private jets, and that sounds right—the higher-end Acela train; or a Town Car, even. That sounds right. Their actions make clear that they don’t feel beholden to Washington, and that’s going to be a problem if Obama has any hope of effecting change we can believe in at the source of the financial crisis.
Wall Street will likely respond to Obama if he speaks the language of money. Hank Paulson, though he only got half the job done, knew this: TARP was meant to be a bribe. With our bolstered stock market—generally, not a bad thing—Wall Street has the impression that it’s back to business as usual.
There’s no doubt that everyone wants to call an end to these tough times. But it’s nice to see most people—outside of Washington and Wall Street, for now—mobilizing against a verbal sweeping under the rug. We’ve been talking about how it’s great that the macroeconomic indicators are improving, but, again, until jobs come back and small businesses get back on their feet, it’s going to be tough to find enough regular people who say we’re in the clear.
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2 comments for “The Recession Will End… When Obama Tames the “Fat Cat” Bankers”
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I love the quote from Larry Summers: “Everybody agrees that the recession is over.” Translation: those people who DON’T agree–who are themselves hurting from the recession or have friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, former colleagues who still are–none of those people count as “everybody.” Only Larry’s Wall Street buddies count.
But I don’t think it’s said enough: populist anger at Wall Street bonuses is a diversion from a much more fundamental issue. Of course the bonuses are infuriating at the moment, but suppose Wall Street were to stop every bonus for the next decade. What we need is meaningful reform of shoddy Wall Street practices that helped precipitate our current financial crisis. Without that, we remain in a dangerous position–whether the bonuses are given or not.
Here, here, Bob. Well said. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation.