October 16

“What you need to know to navigate today’s economic debate.”

You Call This Financial Reform? (Newsweek)
Why there’s been a lot of talk about protecting consumers but little action.

Bill Shields Most Banks From Review (NYT)
Legislation would prevent the new consumer financial protection agency from conducting annual examinations at more than 8,000 of the nation’s 8,200 banks.

House Panel Clears Derivatives Bill, Debates Plan for Consumer Agency (WP)
The Obama administration won its first major victory in its effort to overhaul the financial system as a key House committee passed a bill to regulate financial instruments.

Why Financial Reform Died: “Banks Run Congress” (BigPicture)
Key members of Congress are owned by the financial services group’s lobbyists who have paid hundreds of millions to Congress, the Bush and Obama administrations.

Hedge Funds Gain Clout on Capitol Hill (DealBook)
Hedge fund managers appear to have a new degree of clout on Capitol Hill in shaping legislation that will determine how they will be regulated.

Bankers, Bonuses and the Market: Plus ça Change (FT)
As the financial crash fades in the memory, the question is how long its repercussions will continue to affect the world, writes Philip Stephens.

Bailed-Out Banks Raking In Big Profits (WP)
The nation’s largest banks, preserved from failure by federal aid, are racking up vast profits even as the broader economy struggles to emerge from recession.

Bonuses Put Goldman in Public Relations Bind (NYT)
Goldman executives are perplexed by the resentment directed at their blowout profits and the outsize paydays and contend the criticism is unjustified.

Goldman Sachs: Your Tax Dollars, their Big Bonuses (Forbes)
Goldman Sachs is having a banner year, and is getting a big boost from government programs.

With $1 Billion Loss, Bank of America Misses Its Forecast (NYT)
Bank of America lost $1 billion in the third quarter as growing numbers of consumer loans soured and the bank paid millions of dollars to wean itself off government life support.

Bank of America Chief Forgoes Pay for 2009 (NYT
Bowing to pressure from Washington’s pay czar, Kenneth D. Lewis agreed on Thursday to forgo his salary and bonus as chief executive of Bank of America.

Understanding a Systemic Banking Crisis (Vox)
Harald Uhlig describes six features that a model of the recent crisis must capture and describes a new theory with which we might analyze the crisis and policy responses.

A Hatchet Job So Bad It’s Good (NYT)
The health insurance industry’s recent “hatchet job” attacking health care reform may have actually done health care reform a favor.

US Hardens Stance on Renminbi Rigidity (FT)
US Treasury stops short of labeling China a ‘manipulator’ of its currency.