Thursday, March 09, 2017
Now we're getting somewhere!
Via Axios:
Sean Spicer said during today's White House press briefing that President Trump remains committed to restoring Glass-Steagall, which effectively prohibits commercial banks from engaging in investment banking. The rule originally became law in 1933, but most of it was rescinded in 1999. Confusing: Trump also has aimed fire at financial regulations like Dodd Frank, part of which acted as a backdoor reinstatement of Glass Steagall principlesNot confusing at all. Dodd-Frank was written FOR AND BY Goldman. It built a wall of complexity to protect Goldman from real banks. Breaking Dodd-Frank gives a little more power to real small-scale banks. Until now I hadn't heard ANYTHING from Trump on this subject. He seemed to be firmly tied to Goldman. Trade policy is only half the battle. You can't re-industrialize the country unless you ALSO crank down the power of Goldman. Path of least resistance. When Glass-Steagall was repealed, pure money manipulation became too easy. If banks can't play at Bugsy and Janet's casino, they have to do something else with their cash. Investing in real business becomes more attractive by comparison. ¶ 11:39 AM
