Article: Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

Article - Media

Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

Matt Taibbi

Rolling Stone, 4 January 2013

It has been four long winters since the federal government, in the hulking, shaven-skulled, Alien Nation-esque form of then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, committed $700 billion in taxpayer money to rescue Wall Street from its own chicanery and greed. To listen to the bankers and their allies in Washington tell it, you’d think the bailout was the best thing to hit the American economy since the invention of the assembly line. Not only did it prevent another Great Depression, we’ve been told, but the money has all been paid back, and the government even made a profit. No harm, no foul – right?

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Article: SEC under Schapiro struggles to turn around amid political, financial head winds

Article - Media

SEC under Schapiro struggles to turn around amid political, financial head winds

David S. Hilzenrath

Washington Post, 7 October 2011

Mary L. Schapiro took over a discredited SEC in early 2009 and vowed to rebuild it.

She promised tougher enforcement — “war without quarter” on financial fraud. Modernized rules to keep up with Wall Street. And a new, more effective organization.

Her tenure at the federal agency responsible for protecting investors and policing markets offers a Washington lesson: Even when epic crises create a sense of urgency, it is tough to tighten the reins on powerful industries. Dramatic results can prove elusive.

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THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?