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HomeWashington’s Dysfunction on Display
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 25th, 2011 7:24 AM |
Why do Americans get so fixated on the personally destructive stories of Casey Anthony, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Anthony Weiner, and the like?
Because watching and listening to the dysfunction on display in Washington is typically too painful and too much to bear.
Although some in Washington would pass off our current debate on raising the debt ceiling as the ugly underside of the best political system in the world, I would maintain that the ugliness has gone to an entirely new level.
All Americans are suffering in the process.
Regardless of your political leanings, the style and manner in which the current political debate is playing out displays both real dysfunction and a resulting lack of credibility in the eyes of global investors. We are supposedly the leaders of the free world? Really? (more…)
A Chance to Expose the Wall Street-Washington Incest
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 7th, 2011 6:55 AM |
Truth, transparency, and integrity.
The compromising of these virtues may be the cost of doing business in our nation but make no mistake the price we collectively pay is enormous. Whether in Washington or on Wall Street, the ability to compromise our prized virtues has truly been raised to an art form.
From derivative transactions which disguise unprecedented levels of risk to bond indentures which require advanced legal degrees to interpret, our ‘friends’ on Wall Street with assistance from ‘their’ friends in Washington have displayed little regard for the aforementioned virtues which are the foundation for real ‘sense on cents’.
More often than not,though,the violation of our virtues is viewed in an impersonal light. Wall Street and Washington are behemoths. The American public and investors at large are faceless. In my opinion, our financial services industry and government would just as soon keep it this way.
Let’s challenge them. (more…)
I Will Be Reading ‘Reckless Endangerment’
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 26th, 2011 5:49 AM |
There are only a few books written on our financial crisis that I have felt compelled to read. I thoroughly enjoyed The Big Short by Michael Lewis. I strongly recommend 13 Bankers by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. Ruthless by Phil Trupp explores and exposes the largest scam on Wall Street, that is the auction-rate securities travesty, without parallel.
What is the next book I will be reading? After having listened to a Bloomberg Radio interview yesterday with The New York Times’ Gretchen Morgenson and Graham Fisher’s Josh Rosner, I will next be reading Reckless Endangerment.
I did not want the Bloomberg interview to end yesterday as Morgenson and Rosner were pulling no punches in naming names and exposing the stench of what I have defined as the Wall Street-Washington incest.
I have no doubt that America continues to suffer at the hands of so many intimately engaged in this incestuous activity. Will anything be done to expose and eradicate the incest? (more…)
President Obama, “Are You In?”
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 25th, 2011 7:57 AM |
Information is everything.
Regular readers of Sense on Cents are well aware of my having written that statement on many an occasion. Those on Wall Street who gain early access to critical information have a decided advantage. Those in Washington who gain the upper hand in controlling the flow of information are also at a decided advantage.
As these realities become ever more prevalent, Americans and people worldwide are working harder and digging deeper to attain unbridled access to information in order to determine the truth and promote transparency. With major media outlets often failing us in these pursuits, where do we turn for this information? The internet.
Against this backdrop, I am not surprised to see political powers in Washington accept and embrace the reality of the power of the information superhighway and put an ‘eye in the sky’ in order to monitor the traffic. To what do I allude? (more…)
Merrill Lynch Lawyer Told Eliot Spitzer: “Be Careful, We Have Powerful Friends”
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 18th, 2011 8:29 AM |
Is the need to repair the health of our financial system SO GREAT, that we should be willing to allow the basic rights of individuals and the laws of our land to be trampled and violated in the process? In my opinion, this very question is central to the rage that burns in so many hearts across our great land.
Bailing out banks may be anathema to those who love and cherish capitalism BUT not pursuing justice and real accountability for the transgressions of those individuals and those institutions central to our crisis is sickening. I believe it is inherently un-American to allow these transgressions to pass without proper prosecution. Which transgressions? (more…)
What’s Really Going on at the SEC?
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 10th, 2011 9:44 AM |
How do you view the local cops on the beat within your hometown? I recall fondly looking up to the ‘men in blue’ as a young boy in Boston. The general admiration and respect for our law enforcement back then certainly did not mean that there were not improprieties occurring. We should not be that naive. That said, the institution of law enforcement itself definitely commanded respect. Can we say the same for those enforcing financial regulations today? Regrettably the record over the last number of years shows significant shortcomings.
These shortcomings at the SEC were supposed to change under the leadership of Mary Schapiro. (more…)
America Needs to Stop The Lies and The Liars
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 19th, 2011 12:20 PM |
Real long term success and greatness are founded upon the principles that people do not lie, cheat, or steal. Our nation is neither succeeding nor is great at this point in time because we have allowed these vices to grow and spread throughout our society. Shame on us.
Our nation does have the potential to be a fabulous nation again; however, let’s stop kidding ourselves in thinking that we are a great nation currently. How is it that America has lost its greatness? Where are the aforementioned vices on display? (more…)
Matt Taibbi Exposes Wall Street’s Regulatory Capture Strongly Recommended
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 17th, 2011 6:30 AM |
Regular readers may be accustomed to my designating the relationship between our financial industry and the political crowd as the “Wall Street-Washington incest.” The technical term for this relationship is regulatory capture, as defined by our investing primer:
…the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.
Bingo!! That’s the incestuous relationship we’re talking about.
Is the game really on the up and up? How does regulatory capture work? Who are the financial cops really protecting?
Thank you to the number of readers who pointed out to me an amazing expose of regulatory capture written by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. Taibbi provides extensive detail in writing, Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail? This article is a must read. (more…)
