TV Doubleheader

Simon and I are both on Bill Moyers (first half) tonight. Then Simon is on Real Time with Bill Maher. Enjoy.

20 thoughts on “TV Doubleheader”

  1. I’m glad you guys are able to make one more appearance with Bill Moyers since his show is ending at the end of April – very sad but I’m sure he greatly deserves his retirement!

  2. Speaking of TV, C-Span 2 is now carrying the second hearing on lack of government regulation. Carl Levin and Coburn chair the committee and apparently are jointly doing some good work

    Today is particularly damming on OTS. Thanks to James Kwak previously pointing out the fact that The S&L crises regulaters became OTS, it shows that again our regulation is compromised

  4. I will be watching Moyers. And I loved how SJ was able to squeeze in a few phrases on Colbert. Not an easy task. Maher, however, is not my cup of tea, no matter the guest. Someone tell me what happens.

  6. You guys ROCK !!!
    Fantastic show ! Highly informative!
    As far as I’m concerned, you guys have the first and last word on the economy!
    Thanks for all of your hard work!

  7. Great presentation on Bill Moyers. Both of you guys really “get it” and are excellent at presenting the issues.

    Just wish you both would argue for some type of legislated “automatic fail-safe mechanism” for any of the TBTF public companies. It is just too easy to capture the regulators and the politicans. That is why an “automatic mechanism” would be so much better.

    For example, any TBTF public company could be reguired by law to issue “mandatory convertible bonds (MCB)”. Such MCB could for example be equal to equity capital or based on some amount of leverage used. Such MCB for any TBTF could be automatically triggered by either the Board of Directors or the Fed in the event of a systemic crisis and force the MCB bondholders to convert to equity and effectively wipeout the exisitng common shareholders and effectively force the bondholders to effectivley take over in a short of forced bankruptcy with new owners. The whole point is it needs to be a “free market solution”, needs to be automatic, and needs to be avoid taxpayer bailouts, regulatory and politican capture, etc. And it needs to be simple, effective, automatic, and able to solve the TBFT crisis very quickly. Further it neeeds to place the responsibility and losses where they belong, namely on the private TBTF companies. One wonders how much excessive risk the TBTF companies would take if they knew all their hundreds of millions of dollars in stock compensation over the years could be wiped out in a heartbeat by the Fed “calling” for an auto conversion of all MCB and effectively making all existing common prior management stock totally worthless in a systemic crisis, and the new owners to the the MCB convertible bondholders. Just make a solution automatic, simple, and put all the risk back on those who are responsible for it.

  8. Thank you James and Simon, for giving a voice to the voiceless.
    Now if you could just get an audience with BO himself…

  10. Thank you for your satisfyingly deep research and knowledge of the dangers of encouraging anything other than a produce/production based and supported economy. I dont think anyone wins the game of global banking war where the biggest swallows all the rest. This mortgage/MBS/CDS/frenzy is a game where the biggest win is for those who don’t play. Another part of the big picture is the fact that the US has been playing a marketing, managing and supportive position in the global development game and our progeny are now needing us less. We must retract and rely more on the strength of our infrastructure, material wealth, production capability and experience. re bernanke: Credit is Not the backbone of our economy, but the backache. Reap what ye sow.

  11. I just watched the Bill Moyer’s interview. Very interesting. I am glad this website was mentioned at the end.

  12. My apologies, I posted this comment under Simon’s Pecora post because I didn’t see this one.

    I watched you both on Moyers last night. Bravo.

    I would have liked for you to have backed out of the financial universe a bit and reframe what Goldman did in more general ethical terms, like you did with the example of insuring a house that you planned to burn down.

    Many people (Bill Maher, for example) glaze over when things just get a bit complex but those same people can understand buying a house, taking out insurance all with the knowledge that you plan to burn it down to collect the insurance. Or, making yourself the beneficiary of a life insurance policy as you plan to kill the person holding the policy.

    That’s what Goldman did. Paulson was the beneficiary.

    The problem is that the ethical issue crosses paths with the idea that it’s “the American way” to make money any which way you can, other people be damned. Many tea bagger types hold this kind of contradictory view:

    big government is bad

    I’m going to bleed the beast and get my social security and medicare

    We don’t just need financial regulation, we need a shock treatment to the ethical lobes in our brains. Maybe we all need to become a bit more “socialist” where we worry about the whole (country) as well as the parts (ourselves).

  13. Amen. Icould not have said it better! But what can we do about our spoiled populace only demanding more frome government and not will to pay taxes. The “me” generation will have a rude awakening in the near future and beyond. And the what???
    We have exported jobs to Asia and elsewhere. Our youth is finding Math and Science education “too difficult” and we are relying on scientific and engineering innovation to bring us out of this slump.
    God bless America!

  14. You guys bring a breath of fresh air to our deffective financial system; however, when Simmon
    uses the word “belief” to describe the reasoning behind the misdeads of bankers, he’s being too nice.

    These guys are crooks who take advantage of Americans
    or anyone else at every opportunity. They simply
    move large sums of money and scim off as much as they
    can for themselves.

    Keep up the good fight.

  15. The Moyers program was excellent and I support your crusade to break up the big banks. What disturbs me is the misuse of terms. . . remembering that ‘the most important thing about communication is calling things by the right name.’ Mercantilism is closer to the current conditions than Capitalism or Free Markets. “Deregualtion” would better be called “Contrived for the Oligarchy Regulation”. One can’t have the (captured) convoluted Regulatory System that favors the Oligarchy and call it Capitalism or Free Markets. It’s disturbing to see the debate confused by trying to have it both ways. Perhaps your ideology gets in your way too.

  18. Moyers was awesome for giving us a show with Simon and James together expounding their narrative in 45 minutes of discourse. Just a perfect supplement to the book and blog!

  19. Enjoyed Moyers- bought the book today. They had 3 copies on hand at Eagle Harbor books here on Bainbridge Island.

  20. Simon should be careful ascribing “what they believe” or “their philosophy” to the statements of people like Larry Summers or Robert Rubin. The fact is, you *never* know what they believe, only what they say. It is possible these folks have an agenda that you can infer from their deeds, whether or not they say so.

    Otherwise, excellent!

    (I also posted this elsewhere before noticing this topic.)

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