Back in April, we asked Where’s Volcker? — about the noticably absent Obama advisor and former Fed Chief who seemed to have been pushed aside by either Tim Geithner or Lawrence Summers (or both).
Here it is, 3 months later, and the question remains: Where is the greatest Fed Chair of the modern era? The straight talking, cigar chomping, inflation fighter has been nowhere to be seen in the Obama White House.
Plenty of people who supported Obama in the 2008 election did so because of Volcker’s endorsement/involvement. His absence, and lack of a visible role, has been hugely disappointing.
The Deal reported:
“The most obvious speculation is that forces within the Treasury, or the White House effectively deep-sixed anything as fundamental as separating high-risk institutions to more traditional utility banks. In fact, that may well be part and parcel of the air of compromise and expedience that hangs over the entire reform process. With a few exceptions like the disappearing Office of Thrift Supervision, most of the lineup of regulators will remain the same. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will survive, a consumer products commission will be set up, and a council of regulators will sit over everything, like some regulatory board of directors. It’s still a little unclear how much power the Federal Reserve will accumulate, though it seems probable that it will get some role as a systemic overseer.
This entire setup appears fragmented and inefficient, the worst of both worlds. It’s also bound to be expensive. Why anyone thought that a council of regulators was a good idea beyond political expedience is beyond me. Nothing that’s been leaked so far, however, involves any kind of fundamental alteration in the financial system itself.”
This does not bode well . . .
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Previously:
Where’s Volcker? (April 11th, 2009)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/04/wheres-volcker/
Source:
So whatever happened to Paul Volcker?
Robert Teitelman
The Deal, June 15, 2009 at 4:22 PM
http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2009/06/so_whatever_happened_to_paul_v.php
Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board To Hold First
JIM KUHNHENN
HuffPo, May 18, 2009 04:47 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/18/obamas-economic-recovery_n_204842.html
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