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SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

theintercept.com

61–70 of 201 posts

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#62
post #37
post #4

Which groups are working to reduce the impact of $ on laws? One I've seen is https://represent.us , who else?

None of that will do anything, beyond, at best, chipping at some of the most egregious examples. We are a capitalist system. Economics and politics are inseparable, and the capitalist class has the power.

Is separation of economics and politics a benefit of authoritarianism? How does that work?

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#63
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but that doesn't mean that we can't fight that. Indeed, I think it means we must work ardently against it. Capitalism's pretty neat, but it has known failure modes like monopoly and corruption.

It does mean you can't fight it with little advocacy groups or well-meaning think tanks. According to history, you need a strong labor movement led by principled socialists.

> you need a strong labor movement led by principled socialists

The “principled” qualifier works for anything, e.g. we need a strong bank regulator led by principled felons.

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its understood that those regulations wouldn’t have saved the train in Palestine. That’s one problem with the discourse on the left. I don’t favor regulation for the sake of regulation - nor cutting it for its own sake. There obviously needs to be a rational best-effort cost-benefit analysis. Not cheap politics.

You really think people are that stupid? Biden and the Democrats had their chance either way. They chose to crush the unions, so the burden of proof is on them. However, since this is politics, nobody is going to listen because it's too damn late.

[deleted]

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#65
post #57
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where on earth do you get "corruption in the federal government" from that article? It's explicitly saying that they were lobbying to weaken regulation. That's transparently circular. You're saying government oversight is bad because the government can be convinced not to oversee, in which case we get bad results from the lack of oversight! In this particular case, it's unclear exactly what oversight could have preve…

I don't see where you get "government oversight is bad" from anything I said. I strongly believe that we should have strict government oversight of deposit accounts and that people should be able to have faith in the banking system. I don't think it's depositors fault that banks lobby to weaken this regulation and that the government goes along with it. I agree that we don't know if the weakened regulations caused th…

OK, I see what you meant now. FWIW: employing the phrase "corruption in the federal government" to refer to what was clearly lawfully drafted and correctly passed legislation marks you as kind of a wingnut, so I interpreted your point to be "see? we can't trust the government!" and not "the government did something bad".

The fact that the 2018 bill was a bad bill with bad effects doesn't make it "corrupt". Congress debated it, congress passed it, the president signed it. All that happens in public; it's the opposite of "corrupt".

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#66

Sure SVB used lobbyists but that's not the crux of the issue. The issue is our governments tax and spend policies are driving up rates to an unsustainable amount. SVB is totally at fault, don't get me wrong, but this is the house of cards we have built.

Interest rates are where they were in the mid/late 90s ( https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS ). The idea that these interest rates are unsustainable/dangerous is just silly. If anything, the 2009-2016 and 2020-2021 periods at an interest rate of 0% are the anomalies.

Too bad debt/GDP isn't https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDGDPA188S

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is capitalist about modern banking? It's probably the most regulated industry in existence. Where a practice that would normally be regarded as fraudulent anywhere else (fractional reserve banking) is not only legal but encouraged by government. There's nothing capitalist about it[0]. [0] https://mises.org/power-market/central-banking-socialism

A sovereign state in a capitalist society is a capitalist state. A capitalist state always serves, in aggregate, the interests of the capitalist class. Karl Marx showed us how this works 150 years ago and nobody has challenged this part of his analysis to my knowledge. I am familiar with the delusional American libertarian fantasies, but that's just ideological denial. They haven't done any actual analysis of how a g…

And every instance of communism has devolved into authoritarianism.

I take capitalism, thank you

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#68
post #65
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see where you get "government oversight is bad" from anything I said. I strongly believe that we should have strict government oversight of deposit accounts and that people should be able to have faith in the banking system. I don't think it's depositors fault that banks lobby to weaken this regulation and that the government goes along with it. I agree that we don't know if the weakened regulations caused th…

OK, I see what you meant now. FWIW: employing the phrase "corruption in the federal government" to refer to what was clearly lawfully drafted and correctly passed legislation marks you as kind of a wingnut, so I interpreted your point to be "see? we can't trust the government!" and not "the government did something bad". The fact that the 2018 bill was a bad bill with bad effects doesn't make it "corrupt". Congress d…

I think you would do well to not try to instantly bucket people into "my political tribe" or "the enemy political tribe." Not only is it lazy and harmful, you just aren't good at it. Plenty of people on the left would describe the relationship between members of congress and banking institutions to be corrupt.

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#69
Lol somehow always blaming “deregulation” and politicians

I’ll tell you what, it’s not regulators that caused this. IMO Banks need less regulation (and more smaller banks) and need to fail more (and have more jail time). It’s the banking executives and business analysis team at fault here.

Just like it’s the startups error for failing to have multiple bank accounts.

Some advice, be robust and self reliant. Assume everywhere you keep money could / will be stolen.

As an individual, I have 3 bank accounts - 1 large U.S. bank and 2 regional (in different regions). Each account has a minimum of 1 month living expenses, plus I keep 1 month expenses in cash on hand.

I do the same with investments, particularly after the whole “we won’t let you short sell GameStop” on with firms (but not others).

Be robust, that’s your job as an individual or founder.

Re: SVB Used Former McCarthy Staffers to Weaken Regulations, Lobby FDIC

#70
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but that doesn't mean that we can't fight that. Indeed, I think it means we must work ardently against it. Capitalism's pretty neat, but it has known failure modes like monopoly and corruption.

It does mean you can't fight it with little advocacy groups or well-meaning think tanks. According to history, you need a strong labor movement led by principled socialists.

Competition does wonders to keep power in check, while improving value for consumers. Neither shareholders nor organized labor likes that feature.

Almost all monopolies are the result of government interference

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