could you retrieve the names of the stockholders of NY Fed and the number of shares? That would be the true disclosure. Shouldn’t the Fed of NY disclose it itself, if it is related to the government?

Thanks,
Sam

Rich,

Our ship the Titanic is leaving the harbor and we have just replaced the captain of the ship. We here on this board are arguing that there is a fatal engineering flaw in the ship that will sink it the first time it runs into anything no matter who is piloting it. The government is currently arguing that they have the best trained Titanic captain on the planet and that we, who only had to take five minutes studying basic ship building to see the real problem, should just quiet down and take a seat

Until you fix the fatal flaw that is in the banking and credit system you, your kids and your grandkids will continue to get hosed as taxpayers no matter who is running the currency printing press. Going out and getting people who are just going to alter the speed and leverage of the presses is absurd in the eyes of most of the people around here

This goes to show that everybdoy is clueless about the Fed. Poor Joe six pack does not stand a chance. Literally everybody I talk to in my day to day life (I’m not in finances) thinks that the Fed is a Federal Reserve….as the name implies.
Some pile of money or gold somewhere, that the government somehow “grows” magically so we can all retire.
The great Jekyll Island con still works perfectly. Half the people think I am a hack when I explain (as best as I can) that the Fed is a private corporation made of the “primary dealers”, which some are being bailed out. The other half gets angry, sometimes at me even.
I am telling you, when J6P understands what is really happening, there will be blood in the streets. There is just no way that the populace will remain calm.

I got to this site via a link from TPM. Josh is a pretty sharp guy in general..but I’m not so sure about this referral.

Prove me wrong ladies and gentlemen. Tell us how we should fix this mess or forfeit your right to slander those who are doing their best.

This quote had my laughing:
No! Defending these idiots was your old gig. In the new job, you no longer work for the cretins responsible for bringing down the global economy. Please stop rationalizing their behavior, and preserving the status quo!

Actually, that quote is back to front. Geithner now works for the thugs who are responsible for bringing down the global economy. US dollar hegemony and fractional reserve banking must perish.

I’m a bit bewildered by your article and would like to ask some questions to flesh out your position.

You have emphasized a statement by Mr Geithner….

“We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we’d like to do our best to preserve that system.”

…and condemned him for his position, implying that it is one that must be arrived at as a result of being beholden to special interests.

My primary question is what alternative you see for the future of the US banking system other than the privately system we have today? I don’t see any alternative solutions being presented here…only criticism.

There are umpteen millions of Americans employed in the financial service industry. Clearly, you are going to need most of them in the future. Maybe you want to get rid of the boards and top executives of these banks? How far down the org chart do you go? And how do you determine who is going to lead them in the future? What is the selection process?

Like you, I am disgusted with the societal-wide breakdown of checks and balances including the unsustainable distribution of wealthy to the richest. And psychically, I’ve been kicking and screaming for the last 8 years watching it go down. For better or worse, we now share the result as a nation and need to work together toward solutions.

Are you simply bitching here or do you have a better idea?

For now I’m going to support the administration and Mr. Geithner until he demonstrates that he doesn’t deserve it.

Amen to removing the ass hats who ran their firms into the ground. I would even like to see a few politicians take perp walks. But look at the immediate fallout and focus on the realities of what can be done. Considering the market value of these banks, how about a government buyout? Shareholders get some amount of money back, the bond market doesn’t fall apart and the government can then slice and dice the banks to create entities that work, that are not too big to fail and sell them off to private investors. I bet the market caps to buy all of them is less than the bailouts!

BTW, as someone else said, I hope Timmy is gone by the time the snow melts. Even though his replacement will still be a bank shill, at least it will look better.

“We believe private capital will readily invest in businesses that make money and grow,” Whitney wrote. “However, the banks do not fit this description.”

“If a bank were to sell its ‘bad’ assets into a ‘bad bank,’ it would still be left with lower earnings power from higher losses on ‘good loans’ and the requirements to build reserves, lower earnings power from lower assets and a higher legacy expense structure, or both,” Whitney wrote.