Working Life

   Two things caught my eye this morning. Item #1: If you want to know how the power has shifted in the world of banking, The Financial Times has a fascinating full-page story entitled "The fearsome become the fallen". It compares the rankings of the leading banks in 1999 to the rankings right now, as […]

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Oh, don’t get me wrong–Madoff will, and should, die in prison. But, there is a downside to all this obsession with Bernie Madoff–his crimes are miniscule compared to the legalized robbery that went on in Wall Street and devastated the lives of millions of people. And we can’t let the media circus around Madoff let […]

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Oh, don’t get me wrong–Madoff will, and should, die in prison. But, there is a downside to all this obsession with Bernie Madoff–his crimes are miniscule compared to the legalized robbery that went on in Wall Street and devastated the lives of millions of people. And we can’t let the media circus around Madoff let […]

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   Today, the president will unveil his proposal to deal with the mortgage/housing crisis. At least from the initial reports, my first take is: it’s not enough. And that seems to be the general problem with the way in which the Administration is handling the economic collapse.    Things to consider: 1.4 trillion–that’s TRILLION–in household […]

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   Paul Krugman makes a point today in his column that I, and others, have made before: Meanwhile, a Washington Post report based on administration sources says that Mr. Geithner and Lawrence Summers, President Obama’s top economic adviser, “think governments make poor bank managers” — as opposed, presumably, to the private-sector geniuses who managed to […]

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   It’s always quite amazing that the business world demands that everyone adhere to strict, high standards–except for those people running the business world. And that brings us to today’s newest example, John Thain, who got the axe at Bank of America: His Wall Street pedigree seems impeccable. A top job at Goldman Sachs. The […]

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   There is a truly incredible chart this morning in the Financial Times headlined "The rapidly shrinking banking industry". When you look at the chart you understand: the banking sector will either implode dramatically, even further than before, or we will nationalize large chunks of the banking sector. And, unless ths Administration and Congress significantly […]

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   While I can’t claim this is fact, I would bet it’s hard to find a presidential inauguration day probably since the Great Depression–and maybe not even then–when the Dow dropped so steeply–and, in fact, as I just glanced back at The Wall Street Journal, the newspaper says that the 332-point drop yesterday was the […]

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   Yours truly will be headed today early down to D.C.–I hear something is happening there, what it is isn’t exactly clear, there’s a man…well, you get the pic…    But, yesterday, there was this to ponder: Congress approved the $700 billion rescue plan with the idea that banks would help struggling borrowers and increase […]

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   Rightly so, there is a lot of focus on the $700 billion bailout for bankers (which as we know is now in disarray, causing stock futures to go lower in overnight markets overseas). But, what I’ve been saying here for some time, and I say when I talk to colleagues and friends, is that […]

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