IF YOU EVER WISHED THE CURRENT FISCAL CRISIS COULD BE SUCCINCTLY EXPLAINED IN PLAIN ENGLISH BY A BONA FIDE EXPERT (i.e., WHAT REALLY CAUSED IT AND WHY AUSTERITY WOULD SERVE ONLY THE PERPS), DON'T MISS THIS INTERVIEW!

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TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2012                                                                                             Permalink

Crony Capitalism: After Lobbying Against New Financial Regulations, JPMorgan Loses $2B in Risky Bet



JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, is under fire after losing at least $2 billion in derivatives trading it was warned carried high risk. The loss has renewed calls for tougher regulation of Wall Street, with critics saying JPMorgan could have avoided it under regulations the bank opposed. We’re joined by former financial regulator, white-collar criminologist, and University of Missouri-Kansas City Professor William Black, author of "The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One." Black says JPMorgan’s latest woes stem from the flaws endemic to "too big too fail." "Allowing [banks] to be this big, even conservative economists call this crony capitalism," Black says. "The only way this can work is to shrink the systemically dangerous institutions — this is the 20 largest banks in the United States — down to the point that they no longer pose a systemic risk, they are no longer too big to fail, and therefore, they will no longer have this implicit federal subsidy that completely distorts competition [and] ... destroys democracy, because these giant institutions have so much political power." [original includes rush transcript] 

Guest: 

William Black, author of the book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One. He is associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is also a white-collar criminologist and former senior financial regulator.

Ex-Financial Regulator William Black: Austerity is Sinking Economies from Europe to U.S.