By Bruce Judson, New Deal 2.0 http://tinyurl.com/7qsw9me New evidence points to illegal behavior. Prosecution is the only way to keep that behavior from continuing. It’s now a near certainty that Wall Street executives committed felonies. The recently released audits of robo-mortgage activities by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) details shocking behavior at the five banks constituting the Federal Housing Administration’s largest mortgage servicers. At Wells Fargo, management quashed a midlevel manager’s study of the foreclosure process as negative results began to emerge, and it gave an individual whose last job had been in a pizza restaurant the title of “vice-president of loan documentation to facilitate robo-mortgage signing. Bank of America evaluated employees on the volume of foreclosure affidavits produced. JP Morgan Chase gave individuals titles such as “vice-president of Chase Home” where “the titles were given by Chase for the sole purpose of allowing individuals to sign documents and came with no other duties or authority.” Citigroup and Ally similarly engaged in seemingly illegal practices. Under federal law, the knowing filing of a false affidavit with the court is a felony offense of perjury, punishable by a prison term of up to five years. An individual violates laws against perjury whether he or she personally appears in court and swears to a false statement or provides the court with a false affidavit. Individual states have their own perjury laws, which were undoubtedly violated as well. The HUD report also suggests that individual banks may be guilty of obstruction of justice and the criminal violation of the False Claims Act for filing insurance claims without following HUD requirements. Since the start of the financial crisis, federal and state officials have been struggling to change Wall Street behavior. To date, every effort has failed miserably, and the weak enforcement provisions of the robo-mortgage settlement are unlikely to meaningfully change this dynamic. Government officials have also relied, with a very few exceptions, entirely on civil enforcement when criminal laws appear to have been egregiously violated. The greatest moral hazard now confronting the nation is what appears to be increasingly brazen criminal activity by financial industry executives. With each decision not to prosecute, Wall Street executives justifiably conclude that they are immune to the rules. As a result, it appears that Wall Street criminal activity is increasing in frequency and severity, as opposed to the reverse. The activities surrounding the collapse of MF Global are one example. So what can be done about it? We can change the behavior in the financial service industry for a full generation in just seven days. This plan may seem to be tongue and cheek, but it hearkens back to a similar action in the era of the Great Depression. In the final months of Herbert Hoover’s presidency, the Senate Banking Committee began an investigation into the causes of the Great Crash of 1929, and a young prosecutor named Ferdinand Pecora was appointed as Chief Counsel. Subsequently, the Roosevelt administration conveyed to Pecora that “the prosecution of an outstanding violator of the banking law would be the most salutary action that could be taken at this time. The feeling is that if the people become convinced that the big violators are to be punished, it will be helpful in restoring confidence.” Ultimately, this investigation, which came to be known as the Pecora Commission, led to the indictment of one of America’s most prominent financiers; demonstrated widespread self-dealing in the financial sector; and, as noted by historian Alan Brinkley, generated “broad popular support” for Roosevelt’s reform agenda, including the creation of the SEC and the Glass-Steagall Act. Buy a copy of The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights, featuring a chapter by Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Ellen Chesler. My seven day plan is based on a simple premise: When criminal laws are egregiously violated, the guilty parties should face appropriate punishment. Here’s the plan: Day One: Read the HUD Inspector General’s reports and the public records of past mortgage foreclosure cases from across the nation. Day Two: Meet with the team at the Office of the Inspector General at HUD that prepared the audits. Obtain the names of all the bank officials, lawyers, and notaries whose behavior, as cited in the audit reports or otherwise known to the investigators, represent clear and unquestionable criminal violations. Add to this list other individuals who have similarly demonstrated or testified to behavior unquestionably constituting criminal acts, as indicated by the public records of the mortgage foreclosure cases reviewed in day one. Day Three: Indict all of the individuals on the list compiled on day two. Day Four: Indict banks and financial institutions on criminal charges where criminal behavior by employees (as demonstrated by day three indictments) appears to be endemic. The Justice Department guidelines for prosecuting firms include: (1) the pervasiveness of such activity, (2) the compliance procedures in place, (3) attempts by the corporation to end bad behavior, and (4) cooperation with federal investigators. In 2008, the Justice Department adopted a policy of accepting “deferred prosecutions,” involving agreements to change corporate behavior without damaging innocent third parties through prosecution. Corporations receive the benefits of “legal persons,” as demonstrated by Citizens United. But they must also bear the responsibilities of these privileges. A reading of the HUD reports, and other public records, suggests several banks should clearly be prosecuted. Day 5: Discuss plea bargains with indicted lower-level officials in return for cooperating in investigations of higher-level officials. Day 6: Consider plea bargains with indicted banks, which require the removal of all remaining officers and directors who were serving when egregious criminal activity occurred, as well as senior officials who were in a position to exercise appropriate supervisory responsibility but chose to look the other way. Day 7: Indict any senior Wall Street officials implicated by new cooperative testimony resulting from activities on day five. Adopt and announce a policy that future criminal violations will be prosecuted in a similar fashion. What is particularly disturbing is that a look at the evidence already in the public domain (much less what investigators already know) shows that none of the actions discussed above are entirely absurd. The purpose of prosecution not simply punishment. It acts to deter further illegal activity and to restore public confidence in our system of governance. The nation desperately needs both of these benefits today. Moreover, these ongoing, almost certainly criminal activities are ultimately dangerous threats to our economy, the success of capitalism, and our democracy. In his column on MF Global, Joe Nocera noted that “customers need to be able to trust” the laws protecting their money. “Otherwise, the markets can’t function.” Today, as in the era of FDR, we must send a message to the financial community that illegal behavior will not be tolerated. By prosecuting blatant felonies now, we will deter future misbehavior and begin the process of recreating a fair society where equal justice prevails. Bruce Judson is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute and a former Senior Faculty Fellow at the Yale School of Management. via the2012scenario.com
3/22/2012
Untitled
The UN security council has united behind Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/REUTERS
Russia and China Join UN Security Council Effort to End Syrian Bloodshed
All 15 council members unite to throw weight behind Kofi Annan’s peace plan in rare show of global unity
Reuters March 21, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/21/syria-un-security-council-peace-r...
The UN security council, including Russia and China, on Wednesday threw its weight behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.
In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified “further steps” if it failed to comply with Annan’s peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.
Although the original statement was diluted at Russia’s demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all major powers signed up to the proposal represented a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in Washington: “To President Assad and his regime we say, along with the rest of the international community: take this path, commit to it, or face increasing pressure and isolation.”
At least 8,000 people have died in the revolt, according to the UN. Violence has intensified in recent weeks as pro-government forces bombard rebel towns and villages, looking to sweep their lightly-armed opponents out of their strongholds.
Syria lies in a pivotal position at the heart of a web of regional conflicts in the Middle East, comprising a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups, and diplomats fear the rebellion is degenerating into a full-blown civil war.
Assad’s forces have chalked up a string of gains as they turned their firepower on areas held by rebels. But the fighting shows no sign of abating and analysts expect the insurgents to change their tactics and adopt guerrilla warfare.
Opposition activists said the army used tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns on the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Irbin early on Wednesday, which were retaken from rebels two months ago but have seen renewed insurgency in recent days. Elsewhere the army fired mortars into the Khalidiya district of Homs, while artillery targeted the rebel town of Rastan, north of Homs city, in central Syria. Video also showed shelling of the ancient Apamea castle at Qalat Mudiq, near Hama.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people died in the southern city of Deraa when the army opened fire after a bomb had hit a military convoy, killing two soldiers. It added that two girls died in gunfire in Qalat Mudiq.The official Syrian news agency Sana reported the funerals of seven security force members killed in the fighting.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because officials have barred access to rights groups and journalists.
Russia and China have vetoed two previous UN draft resolutions that would have condemned Damascus and have resisted calls from western and Arab states for Assad to stand down. But faced with global outrage, the two countries agreed to a so-called “presidential statement”. They are generally non-binding documents but do require unanimous support in the security council.
Russia praised the document as pragmatic. “The most important thing is that there are no ultimatums … and no suggestions as to who carries more blame,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Berlin.
The accord came a few days after Annan, a former UN secretary general, told the security council that Syria’s response to his plans for peace were disappointing and he urged the international community to lay aside its divisions.
His proposal, spelled out in the UN statement, tells Damascus to cease troop movements in population centres and end the use of heavy weapons in such areas.
It also calls for the government and opposition to hold talks to secure a peaceful settlement.
Assad has not rejected the proposals but has challenged their feasibility and asked who can speak for the splintered opposition.
Untitled
The UN security council has united behind Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/REUTERS
Russia and China Join UN Security Council Effort to End Syrian Bloodshed
All 15 council members unite to throw weight behind Kofi Annan’s peace plan in rare show of global unity
Reuters March 21, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/21/syria-un-security-council-peace-r...
The UN security council, including Russia and China, on Wednesday threw its weight behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.
In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified “further steps” if it failed to comply with Annan’s peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.
Although the original statement was diluted at Russia’s demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all major powers signed up to the proposal represented a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said in Washington: “To President Assad and his regime we say, along with the rest of the international community: take this path, commit to it, or face increasing pressure and isolation.”
At least 8,000 people have died in the revolt, according to the UN. Violence has intensified in recent weeks as pro-government forces bombard rebel towns and villages, looking to sweep their lightly-armed opponents out of their strongholds.
Syria lies in a pivotal position at the heart of a web of regional conflicts in the Middle East, comprising a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups, and diplomats fear the rebellion is degenerating into a full-blown civil war.
Assad’s forces have chalked up a string of gains as they turned their firepower on areas held by rebels. But the fighting shows no sign of abating and analysts expect the insurgents to change their tactics and adopt guerrilla warfare.
Opposition activists said the army used tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns on the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Irbin early on Wednesday, which were retaken from rebels two months ago but have seen renewed insurgency in recent days. Elsewhere the army fired mortars into the Khalidiya district of Homs, while artillery targeted the rebel town of Rastan, north of Homs city, in central Syria. Video also showed shelling of the ancient Apamea castle at Qalat Mudiq, near Hama.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people died in the southern city of Deraa when the army opened fire after a bomb had hit a military convoy, killing two soldiers. It added that two girls died in gunfire in Qalat Mudiq.The official Syrian news agency Sana reported the funerals of seven security force members killed in the fighting.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because officials have barred access to rights groups and journalists.
Russia and China have vetoed two previous UN draft resolutions that would have condemned Damascus and have resisted calls from western and Arab states for Assad to stand down. But faced with global outrage, the two countries agreed to a so-called “presidential statement”. They are generally non-binding documents but do require unanimous support in the security council.
Russia praised the document as pragmatic. “The most important thing is that there are no ultimatums … and no suggestions as to who carries more blame,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Berlin.
The accord came a few days after Annan, a former UN secretary general, told the security council that Syria’s response to his plans for peace were disappointing and he urged the international community to lay aside its divisions.
His proposal, spelled out in the UN statement, tells Damascus to cease troop movements in population centres and end the use of heavy weapons in such areas.
It also calls for the government and opposition to hold talks to secure a peaceful settlement.
Assad has not rejected the proposals but has challenged their feasibility and asked who can speak for the splintered opposition.
Nesara, new financial system...check this out. It's coming
I’m reposting this because of the interest in NESARA after having had a conversation with the ascended master on An Hour with an Angel, who started it all, oh, a few centuries ago, the Count of St. Germain.
NESARA (or the National Security and Economic Reformation Act, an act of the American Congress) is the name given to the planetary abundance program or wisdom economy that is waiting in the wings, ready to be given to the world, as soon as the cabal is escorted from the hall. See the righthand column for much more on NESARA. (From July 27, 2011.)
Well, I just had a most pleasurable talk with Tricia, a former Vancouverite now living in London, who may be joining our staff as a contributor later in the summer. And we talked a lot about NESARA (“National Economic Security and Reformation Act” – the global abundance program). Some interesting matters emerged from the back-and-forth which I’ve asked her permission to share.
I noticed, at least in myself, a tendency to compartmentalize things like NESARA and consider it only a financial and an economic arrangement. But in fact, as we discussed, it’s at once more than that and at the same time simply a facet of a greater whole. How can I describe that? Hmmm….
There are many sides to that discussion. The first one I’d like to mention is that we’re moving towards unitive consciousness and NESARA is a way of behaving economically that translates unitive consciousness into financial behavior. Unitive consciousness as a social matter produces, as Werner Erhard pointed out so many years ago, “a world that works for everyone, with no one left out.” That’s where we’re headed. That’s what we’re building.
If we were to consider a world that works for everyone from a spiritual point of view, we’d be talking about tolerance for other people’s religions, their paths, their disciplines, and their traditions. If we were to consider a world that works for everyone from a medical standpoint, we’d be talking about universal accessibility to health care at no cost. We’d be talking about everyone having what they needed and the entire society operating in a manner that looked to and ensured that universal accessibility occurred.
If we were to consider a world that works for everyone from the standpoint of finances and economics, then we’d be talking about NESARA. So NESARA is an arrangement that captures how unitive consciousness invites us to operate financially. NESARA is an arrangement that expresses a world that works for everyone in financial terms or the financial behavior of people who embrace the ideal of a world that works for everyone.
Secondly, we need to consider that the society that enjoys NESARA will not be the same society that is standing here, now, looking forward. Oh, yes, the same people, but not the same mindset, mood, or experience. The energies continue to rise on this planet. By the time we reach NESARA, we’ll be happier, more blissful, more joyful. Cooperating will be easier and in fact it will seem natural, whereas competition seems natural now. Peace will probably have been declared so there will be no desire to go to war, no ability to do so, no temptation to do so.
Therefore, we probably cannot see NESARA through these eyes. We have to imagine what it will look like as seen through the expanded, peaceful, joyful eyes we’ll be seeing through then.
We cannot understand what life will be like under NESARA thinking from where we are now. Einstein once said that our social problems cannot be solved thinking from the level at which the problems were created. More competition will not make competition disappear and cooperation establish itself on Earth. More predatory conduct will not see predatory conduct disappear. As I said a while back, if we want predatory competition to disappear, we have to stop the train and lay new track.
But more to the point we cannot imagine our changed society looking from the standpoint of our unchanged society. These eyes cannot see or imagine those days. Fortunately we have a host of ascended beings who are looking through those eyes and they can imagine it and are creating it for us or we might never have NESARA.
NESARA mandates that borders fall. NESARA presupposes that the current tax structure be gone, debt disappear, and that government serve significantly different purposes than it does now. We can’t project our current situation into the era in which NESARA exists. This current society is falling away and NESARA will see entirely new social arrangements being nurtured and put in place.
Thirdly, NESARA will be part of a wider program that will see us using replicators, if I’m correct in my understanding, robots, better computers, anti-gravity vehicles, and so on. It doesn’t make sense to consider how we’ll use Earth’s resources under NESARA because, by then, we probably won’t be using Earth’s resources very much compared to now. It isn’t as useful to consider how we’ll work under NESARA because a lot of work will disappear. And lest we think we’ll be bored, we need to remember that blissful people are very seldom bored.
So I just encourage us to understand and acknowledge all the changes that will occur along with NESARA, how our mood and experience of life will be altered by then, and how NESARA itself is just a part of a total program that will revolutionize life, and is not simply a new currency, gold standard, and debt forgiveness. NESARA is a step along the road to Ascension itself and a “middle-ground” arrangement that is better than this and not as good as that. And it can’t be imagined coming from or extrapolating from life as it is now.
So thank you, Tricia, for helping me see that and I look forward to your coming on board later and helping us to understand things like NESARA.
NESARA OR THE ABUNDANCE PROGRAM
- What is NESARA?
- What is the “Abundance Program”?
On NESARA
- Nancy B. Detweiler: History of NESARA
- Nancy B. Detweiler: NESARA Rights the Unthinkable Wrongs Perpetrated On the American People & the World
- An Hour with an Angel Transcript of Conversation with St. Germain March 19, 2012
- Matthew Ward: Special NESARA Edition, 2003 and 2005
- SaLuSa: Massive Changes are Coming that will Provide the Answers to Present Problems
- SaLuSa: You are to Move into Abundance in the Very Near Future
- SaLuSa on the Spiritual Hierarchy and NESARA
- Saul: The New Worldwide Monetary and Financial System
- Some Provisions of the NESARA Act
- NESARA is the Perfect Answer Waiting for the Right Question
- Where are Matters at with NESARA?
- Which Way to the Future?
- NESARA and 9/11
- More on NESARA’s Name and Realm of Operation
- Much Ado About NESARA
- The James Martinez Video Was Not a Hoax
- Follow the Gold
- Yes, Hundreds of Trillions of Dollars are Being Stored. Gold too.
UntitledHarmonic Signature Frequency Channeled by Suzan Caroll
Channeled by Suzan Caroll
March 18, 2012
Dear Ascending Expressions of our SELF,
We speak to you, the grounded expressions of our Galactic Group Mind, because you are remembering your higher expressions of SELF.
The higher light of the Galactic Center is creating a great awakening by activating your 97% Multidimensional DNA. With these DNA patterns finally active, you are remembering that which has been forgotten for millennia and returning to your true, Signature Frequency. Your crystalline-based Lightbody carries this Signature Frequency as your “name.”
Your Signature Frequency is the collective harmonic of your Multidimensional DNA tones. Because this DNA exists dimensionally, as well as biologically, it connects you to the many frequencies of light and sound in which your Multidimensional SELF exists.
All of your expressions are unified into the Signature Frequency that serves as your name. The infinite frequencies of light and sound, which are united in the fifth dimension and beyond, connect you to the Universal Harmonic Signature of your local universe.
We wish to tell you that the Universal Harmonic Signature embraces the Signature Frequency of your life-stream and welcomes you into its great ONESS. It is the breathing mode of the mind that inhales this multidimensional light and sound and integrates it into your DNA with each exhale.
Please remember that this form of breathing is a metaphoric term. However, the multidimensional thinking of Light Language is based on metaphors. Light language causes certain neuron to fire, which creates perceptions of images, tones and metaphors.
You can easily perceive and interact with the dimensions below you, but you must expand your consciousness to match the higher dimensions in order to perceive and interact them. Furthermore, the level of your consciousness determines the frequency of your creations.
If you create something while in third dimensional consciousness, it will exist only in your physical reality. It may also hold some form in the fourth dimension if a great deal of emotion and/or thought has adhered to that creation.
On the other hand, if you create something while in fifth dimensional consciousness, you will perceive it even while you are still holding the majority of your consciousness in your earth vessel, as its resonance will Flow down into your fourth and third dimensional expressions of SELF. Therefore, you will be able to perceive this creation in the third, fourth and fifth dimensions.
The reason for this discrepancy in creation is that third dimensional consciousness limits your thinking to sequential, linear patterns of thought, which are bound by time, space, separation and illusion. On the other hand, multidimensional consciousness allows your thinking to flow in ever expanding circles of reality. You can expand these circles with the power of your breath. As you breathe, allow the power of your imagination to create colors, sounds and images within your mind and heart. For example:
Take a long, slow, deep breath to expand you consciousness up into the fifth dimension with your inhale and down into the second dimension with your exhale…
Now, take another long, deep breath to expand your consciousness up into the sixth dimension with your inhale and down into the first dimension wit your exhale…
Finally, take a long, slow, deep breath to expand your consciousness up into the seventh dimension with your inhale and down into the quantum realities with your exhale…
The multidimensional spectrum of the quantum reality to seventh dimension includes all realities of form. The seventh dimension allows you to share your creation with your Oversoul, whereas the quantum reality allows you to instantly bi-locate into the reality of your creation.
Your Oversoul is the collection of all the expressions of your Multidimensional SELF in ALL of the realities in which you have ever held form. Therefore, you can perceive the dimensional range of your myriad incarnations and powers of creation.
Creating reality while in your multidimensional consciousness allows you to form frequency bridges into New Earth. When you can expand your consciousness into the higher dimensions, you have perceptual access to the molecules of Spirit, which can be blended into a form by the power of your unconditional love. Since the higher frequency realities can easily perceive the lower ones formless beings, who often express themselves as Group Minds, from the eighth dimension and beyond can easily perceive and enjoy your creation.
Beloved Grounded Expressions who are NOW ascending, you have moved into a new octave of your multidimensional thinking. Consequently, there is no longer the illusion of separation between YOU and the Source of Light Language that you are receiving.
The illusion of separation is beginning to blur into the ONE for many of those in earthen bodies. Within the same moment, the truth of the multidimensional expressions of your EVERY state of consciousness, thought, emotion and creation is seeping into your mundane thinking.
We wish now to speak about “Crossover Messages.” Crossover Messages are communications/memories that you can pull forward from your sleeping and/or meditative state into your daily state of consciousness.
In this manner, messages received when your consciousness is free of the limitations of external focus can be more easily accessed in your third/fourth dimensional state of consciousness. We say “third/fourth” because most of you can maintain a fourth-or even fifth-dimensional resonance, unless you are experiencing physical, mental or emotional stress.
When you experience stress in any manner your earth vessel releases adrenalin, which instantly lowers your consciousness to survival mode. This “breaking system” is very important for the protection of your earth vessel as it alerts you to any physical conditions to which you must attend.
One day you will no longer need this warning system because you are matching your resonance with Gaia’s. In this manner, you can assist Her and She assists you with the process of Planetary Ascension.
Realize that with every breath you are creating your reality. Remember that with every breath you are merging with your higher expressions of SELF, and know that every breath is connecting you with your higher expressions of SELF. We, your Galactic Family, are always with you, as well as Gaia. Stay connected with the Quantum Reality through the Seventh Dimensions as much as possible.
We realize that you have to narrow your focus to a smaller spectrum to live, work and maneuver through your remaining third dimensional experiences. Therefore, do not hesitate to call us. You will know that we have answered you by the feeling of our Unconditional Love within your Heart and Mind.
Love,
Your Galactic Family
We will keep the light on for you!
US Grip on World Bank Challenged America’s traditional grip on the presidency of the World Bank is expected to be challenged for the first time with the nominations for the post from Nigeria and Colombia. By Louise Armitstead, The Telegraph M
America’s traditional grip on the presidency of the World Bank is expected to be challenged for the first time with the nominations for the post from Nigeria and Colombia. By Louise Armitstead, The Telegraph March 21, 2012 http://tinyurl.com/7yjs4b4 The Nigerian finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and former Colombian finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, are reportedly being put forward to replace Robert Zoellick who is retiring. Ever since the World Bank was established at the Bretton Woods conference after the Second World War, an American has always led it. The understanding also upholds the traditional that a European always heads the International Monetary Fund, created in the wake of the same conference. Leaders of developing economies have called for a break in the tradition but have so far failed to get enough support from other countries. Sources told Reuters that Mr Okonjo-Iweala and Mr Ocampo have gathered support from key countries such as South Africa and Brazil. Mr Okonjo-Iweala was managing director of the World Bank until last year when he left to become Nigeria’s finance minister. Mr Ocampo was the former under-secretary for economic and social affairs at the United Nations (UN). Domenico Lombardi, a former World Bank board official now at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told Reuters: “The impressive credentials of both Ocampo and Okonjo-Iweala puts tremendous pressure on the White House to come up with a candidate of at least equivalent standing.” He added: “This signals a big shift and really reflects a game change. This is the first time in history we have a truly contested election.” Washington is expected to announce its nominations as early as Friday. America is said to be keen to back a female candidate. The 25 members of the World Bank are expected to decide on the next president over the next month. via the2012scenario.com US Grip on World Bank Challenged America’s traditional grip on the presidency of the World Bank is expected to be challenged for the first time with the nominations for the post from Nigeria and Colombia. By Louise Armitstead, The Telegraph March 21, 2012 http://tinyurl.com/7yjs4b4 The Nigerian finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and former Colombian finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, are reportedly being put forward to replace Robert Zoellick who is retiring. Ever since the World Bank was established at the Bretton Woods conference after the Second World War, an American has always led it. The understanding also upholds the traditional that a European always heads the International Monetary Fund, created in the wake of the same conference. Leaders of developing economies have called for a break in the tradition but have so far failed to get enough support from other countries. Sources told Reuters that Mr Okonjo-Iweala and Mr Ocampo have gathered support from key countries such as South Africa and Brazil. Mr Okonjo-Iweala was managing director of the World Bank until last year when he left to become Nigeria’s finance minister. Mr Ocampo was the former under-secretary for economic and social affairs at the United Nations (UN). Domenico Lombardi, a former World Bank board official now at the Brookings Institution in Washington, told Reuters: “The impressive credentials of both Ocampo and Okonjo-Iweala puts tremendous pressure on the White House to come up with a candidate of at least equivalent standing.” He added: “This signals a big shift and really reflects a game change. This is the first time in history we have a truly contested election.” Washington is expected to announce its nominations as early as Friday. America is said to be keen to back a female candidate. The 25 members of the World Bank are expected to decide on the next president over the next month. via the2012scenario.com
The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks By Joe Weisenthal
Thanks to Casey
The Dallas Fed Is Calling For The Immediate Breakup Of Large Banks
By Joe Weisenthal
March 21, 2012
http://www.businessinsider.com/dallas-fed-calls-for-breakup-of-big-banks-2012...
It’s hard not to think it’s a big deal when a branch of the Federal Reserve system calls for the breakup of major American banks.
The bank has just released its annual report, and the title of the letter is: Choosing the Road to Prosperity Why We Must End Too Big to Fail—Now.
Here’s the full letter from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, generally known as one of the most hawkish and conservative Fed Presidents.
Letter from the President,
If you are running one of the “too-big-to-fail” (TBTF) banks—alternatively known as “systemically important financial institutions,” or SIFIs—I doubt you are going to like what you read in this annual report essay written by Harvey Rosenblum, the head of the Dallas Fed’s Research Department, a highly regarded Federal Reserve veteran of 40 years and the former president of the National Association for Business Economics.
Memory fades with the passage of time. Yet it is important to recall that it was in recognition of the precarious position in which the TBTF banks and SIFIs placed our economy in 2008 that the U.S. Congress passed into law the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd–Frank). While the act established a number of new macroprudential features to help promote financial stability, its overarching purpose, as stated unambiguously in its preamble, is ending TBTF.
However, Dodd–Frank does not eradicate TBTF. Indeed, it is our view at the Dallas Fed that it may actually perpetuate an already dangerous trend of increasing banking industry concentration. More than half of banking industry assets are on the books of just five institutions. The top 10 banks now account for 61 percent of commercial banking assets, substantially more than the 26 percent of only 20 years ago; their combined assets equate to half of our nation’s GDP. Further, as Rosenblum argues in his essay, there are signs that Dodd– Frank’s complexity and opaqueness may evenbe working against the economic recovery. In addition to remaining a lingering threat to financial stability, these megabanks significantly hamper the Federal Reserve’s ability to properly conduct monetary policy.
They were a primary culprit in magnifying the financial crisis, and their presence continues to play an important role in prolonging our economic malaise.There are good reasons why this recovery has remained frustratingly slow compared with periods following previous recessions, and I believe it has very little to do with the Federal Reserve. Since the onset of the Great Recession, we have undertaken a number of initiatives— some orthodox, some not—to revive and kick-start the economy. As I like to say, we’ve filled the tank with plenty of cheap, high-octane gasoline. But as any mechanic can tell you, it takes more than just gas to propel a car.
The lackluster nature of the recovery is certainly the byproduct of the debt-infused boom that preceded the Great Recession, as is the excessive uncertainty surrounding the actions—or rather, inactions—of our fiscal authorities in Washington. But to borrow an analogy Rosenblum crafted, if there is sludge on the crankshaft—in the form of losses and bad loans on the balance sheets of the TBTF banks—then the bank-capital linkage that greases the engine of monetary policy does not function properly to drive the real economy. No amount of liquidity provided by the Federal Reserve can change this.
Perhaps the most damaging effect of propagating TBTF is the erosion of faith in American capitalism. Diverse groups ranging from the Occupy Wall Street movement to the Tea Party argue that government-assisted bailouts of reckless financial institutions are sociologically and politically offensive. From an economic perspective, these bailouts are certainly harmful to the efficient workings of the market.
I encourage you to read the following essay. The TBTF institutions that amplified and prolonged the recent financial crisis remain a hindrance to full economic recovery and to the very ideal of American capitalism.
It is imperative that we end TBTF. In my view, downsizing the behemoths over time into institutions that can be prudently managed and regulated across borders is the appropriate policy response. Only thencantheprocessof “creativedestruction”— which America has perfected and practiced with such effectiveness that it led our country to unprecedented economic achievement— work its wonders in the financial sector, just as it does elsewhere in our economy. Only then will we have a financial system fit and proper for serving as the lubricant for an economy as dynamic as that of the United States.
Later in the report, there’s this explainer of how Too Big To Fail is a perversion of capitalism:
TBTF: A Perversion of Capitalism
A n unfortunate side effect of the government’s massive aid to TBTF banks has been an erosion of faith in American capitalism. Ordinary workers and consumers who might usually thank capitalism for their higher living standards have seen a perverse side of the system, where they see that normal rules of markets don’t apply to the rich, powerful and well-connected.
Here are some ways TBTF has violated basic tenets of a capitalist sys-tem:
Capitalism requires the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail.
Hard work and good decisions should be rewarded. Perhaps more important, bad decisions should lead to failure—openly and publicly. Economist Allan Meltzer put it this way:“Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin.”Capitalism requires government to enforce the rule of law. This requires maintaining a level playing field.The privatization of profits and socialization of losses is completely unacceptable.TBTF undermines equal treatment, reinforcing the perception of a system tilted in favor of the rich and powerful.
Capitalism requires businesses and individuals be held accountable for the consequences of their actions. Accountability is a key ingredient for maintaining public faith in the economic system.The perception—and the reality—is that virtually nobody has been punished or held accountable for their roles in the financial crisis.
The idea that some institutions are TBTF inexorably erodes the foundations of our market-based system of capitalism.
This chart from the report shows nicely how much more concentrated things have become.
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