Okay. Well, here's the list of arguments to keep Glass-Steagal, as written in 1987:
I don't know about you, but to me that reads like a laundry list of the problems we're facing now. The one possible exception is that the government paid large sums to prevent collapse, rather than as a response to collapse.Conflicts of interest characterize the granting of credit (that is to say, lending) and the use of credit (that is to say, investing) by the same entity, which led to abuses that originally produced the Act.
Depository institutions possess enormous financial power, by virtue of their control of other people's money; its extent must be limited to ensure soundness and competition in the market for funds, whether loans or investments.
Securities activities can be risky, leading to enormous losses. Such losses could threaten the integrity of deposits. In turn, the Government insures deposits and could be required to pay large sums if depository institutions were to collapse as the result of securities losses.
Depository institutions are supposed to be managed to limit risk. Their managers thus may not be conditioned to operate prudently in more speculative securities businesses. An example is the crash of real estate investment trusts sponsored by bank holding companies (in the 1970s and 1980s).
I don't think the banks were exclusively to blame. I doubt many in OWS think that, either. But I think, and I believe many of them think, that banks share a huge portion of the blame. A lot of that blame can be shared by the government--both major parties--for allowing the banks the latitude to fail the country so spectacularly.
Besides, that's a ridiculous thing to say. Where does the statement that Obama was born in Hawaii fall on the political spectrum?
That strikes me as a fair characterization of the Tea Party. It doesn't strike me as a fair characterization of OWS. It seems pretty clear that the largest problem the country faces lies in how the major financial institutions are operating. Whether you want to blame that on the government or the banks or even those who accepted the liar loans, financial operations is where the problem is occurring. Fixing those problems is going to involve fixing how financial institutions operate. So pretty much no matter what, OWS's anger is at least aimed in something approximating the right direction. As opposed to blaming immigrants.
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