Who’s afraid of the big bad Goldman Sachs?
Not Congress. Namby-pamby efforts to control dubious derivatives have been eviscerated in the House and Sen. Chris Dodd is not holding the line in the Senate.
The House bill requires derivatives to be traded on an exchange, BUT exempts half of the market from it. And Dodd abandoned the idea of a free-standing Consumer Financial Protection Agency and would put it in the Fed’s porous lap.
Along with the CFPA, derivative regulation will be anesthetized and stuck on a pin in a display case in the Federal Reserve – for the fate of all watchdog agencies in the U.S. – a butterfly collection with pretty wings -- and dead.
And Goldman Sachs is still free to be the global wrecking bar that tears down companies and countries willy-nilly. Old Scratch couldn’t ask for a better partner in sending people to hell. But Goldman doesn’t need any partners.
The latest Greek derivative case that Goldman actively engaged in, undermines the Greek economy, shakes up the euro and threatens the entire project for a united Europe.
Does Goldman Sachs care? Nope. It’s all in a day’s work. Less competition in owning the world.
People with any sense are afraid of them.
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