Comments on: That Was Fast

By: Realtime: Antitrust for Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro of the US Justice Department

Realtime: Antitrust for Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro of the US Justice Department — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:23:58 +0000

[...] about potential antitrust action in and around banking. Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney spoke about this on April 11, but her wording is open to interpretation, “I have to ask if too big to fail is a failure of [...]

By: Bayard

Bayard — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:26:55 +0000

Go Christine!! If Tiny Tim doesn’t have the heart (since he is a toadie wonk for the big boys) and Larry Summers can’t stand the thought of damaging long time relationships, it is time for Justice to step up, step down, and stomp the big boys like they have stomped all of us. Otherwise, it will be a cold day in hell before things recover. When GM goes into receivership in June, that will be a perfect time for DOJ to weald its muscle against the smoke and mirrors boys. So far, their red herrings have clogged the streams of progress. Time to cast a big net and exercise anti-trust as it was intended.

By: Antitrust For Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro

Antitrust For Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:18:33 +0000

[...] about potential antitrust action in and around banking. Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney spoke about this yesterday, but her exact wording is open to interpretation, “”I have to ask if too big to fail is a [...]

By: TheTradingReport » Blog Archive » Antitrust for Banks?

TheTradingReport » Blog Archive » Antitrust for Banks? — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:11:11 +0000

By: Antitrust For Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro « The Baseline Scenario

Antitrust For Banks? Ask Carl Shapiro « The Baseline Scenario — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:42:36 +0000

[...] potential antitrust action in and around banking. Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney spoke about this yesterday, but her exact wording is open to interpretation, “”I have to ask if too big to fail is [...]

By: psh

psh — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:27:39 +0000

If Obama takes the antitrust division out of the freezer, all is forgiven. Improved structural regulation (or any semblance of it), that’s my litmus test for success in breaking free of the institutionalized corruption that’s turning us into a banana republic. Financial-industry conduct is already under scrutiny; performance monitoring is the most complex problem, but that can wait. Structural regulation is the key to getting the oligarchy under control.

By: Mattyoung

Mattyoung — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:16:42 +0000

He might start with Government Sachs, the financial firm that rules Treasury. For wasn’t Teddy’s trust busting aimed as large corporations that run government?

By: strike three

strike three — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:03:33 +0000

I could offer an example of real estate brokers and their 7% off-the-top non-deductible “sales commission” for buying you lunch, filling out some forms on the computer and turning you over to a mortgage broker who rips you a new one.

By: Mark G

Mark G — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:31:47 +0000

Short Google.

“For me, Microsoft is so last century. They are not the problem,” Varney said at a June 19 panel discussion sponsored by the American Antitrust Institute. The U.S. economy will “continually see a problem — potentially with Google” because it already “has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising,” she said.

http://www.techflash.com/Obamas_antitrust_pick_Microsoft_so_last_century_but_Google_troubling_39762932.html

By: mk

mk — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:24:09 +0000

As with many aspects of the Federal Government, enforcement is very often more important than writing new legislation. As much as I’m for an overhaul in financial sector regulation, I’m also positive they will over reach because that’s the nature of government. I’m much more concerned about actually enforcing current laws. How much stuff did the SEC just simply not enforce over the last decade? Madoff being the most glaring example. Ratings agencies, banking regulators, etc. were not simply mistaken, they were either incompetent or willingly complicit in deception. Lots could be accomplished by NGO’s, independent ratings agencies and the Federal Government just doing their jobs.

By: Mark G

Mark G — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:19:29 +0000

“The Obama administration is strengthening its antitrust enforcement policy”

No. The Obama admin. SAYS it’s going to strengthen antitrust enforcement policy. Two totally different things. Public statements from Obama or his admin. mean nothing.