Congratulations chumps! You are now on the hook for $303 Trillion in Derivatives

Congratulations chumps! You are now on the hook for $303 Trillion in Derivatives

Daily Kos 12/15/14

Before Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999, Wall Street was on the hook for bad bets with derivatives. During the real estate bubble the taxpayer was on the hook for these casino chips.

Then came the 2008 meltdown and Dodd-Frank was pushed through. The taxpayer was off the hook for six years. But now Congress rolled over for Wall Street and the taxpayer is on the hook again…..

Did Wall Street Need to Win the Derivatives Budget Fight to Hedge Against Oil Plunge?

naked capitalism 15 Dec 2014

Conventional wisdom among banking experts is that Wall Street’s successful fight last week to get a pet provision into the must-pass budget bill (or in political junkies’ shorthand, Cromnibus) as more a demonstration of power and a test for gutting Dodd Frank than a fight that mattered to them. But the provision they got in, which was to undo a portion of Dodd Frank that barred them from having taxpayer-backstopped deposits fund derivative positions, may prove to be more important than it seemed as the collateral damage from the 40% fall in oil prices hits investors and intermediaries….

 

Cromnibus Pension Provisions Gut Forty Years of Policy, Allow Existing Pensions to Be Slashed

naked capitalism 15 Dec 2014

The Kline-Miller amendment allows multi-employer pension benefits to be cut. Shouldn’t Warren Democrats be against that? ….