As more and more taxpayer’s dollars go to bail out banks, Sandy Weill, the former Citigroup CEO now says big banks should be split up.
Weill suggested investment banks should be split from banks that provide retail and commercial banking services. In other words, banks should not be gambling with investments, but restricted to providing basic banking services.
Unfortunately the U.S. government, slave to the one percenters and their lobbyists (the Oligarchs), voted to overturn the Glass-Steagall law that requires deposit-taking institutions to separate from risky investment banks.
Why should investment banks benefit from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which backs them with taxpayer dollars?
The Glass-Steagall law was put in place after the 1929 stock market crash. Now, with a new crash imminent, the law should be put back in place, but probably won’t thanks to the fact that the U.S. is now an Oligarchy dominated by the rich and super rich—the one percenters.
Citigroup became one of the taxpayer’s problems during the financial crisis—a poster-child for “too big to fail” with the government spending $45 billion trying to keep it afloat. A lot of that $45 billion went to hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to Citigroup executives, guys like Weill.
“Have banks do something that’s not going to risk the taxpayer dollars, that’s not going to be too big to fail,” Weill said. That’s easy to say now, Sandy, after you have reaped the benefits of the broken system.
Weil called for a “creative” banking system that can “attract the best and brightest” talent–sure, Sandy.
“I want to see the United States be leader,” Weill said. “I really believe in our country, and we are not going to be a leader if we continue to trash our institutions.” Weil should not blame people for trashing “our institutions.” He should blame himself and others like him.
The world hates bankers right now, he said.
“There is such a feeling among people, among regulators, among the political system all over the world against the banking system, and I don’t think that is going to change so soon,” Weill said.
Sheila Bair, the former chair of the FDIC and slave to the lobbyists, said Weill’s reason for breaking up the banks is not the correct approach to the problem. She says, “Banks are unpopular now because they’ve done a lot of dumb things. There’s a perception that banks are managed for short-term profit and don’t care about long-term customer relation.”
Sheila, they have only done “dumb things” because they were allowed by congress and people like you to dabble in investments.
“We had to bail out these financial institutions,” Bair continued. “Not all of them, but Citigroup is top of the list.”
Sheila should tell us something we don’t know. Clearly she is working for the one percenters.
and there’s NOTHING we can do! our elected officials are all working for the rich, our system is broke.
It’s simply outrageous!
Dear John and May,
I read your wonderful book, and like all your other readers, I could not put it down!
What an amazing Non-fiction book.
Thank you.
Warm regards,
Martin R
USA