Wednesday 25 March 2009

Summers you win

Here's the New York Times from November 5 1999 reporting the ditching of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a move widely blamed for allowing Wall Street banks to become so bloated that when they went down they took us all with them.
"Congress approved landmark legislation today that opens the door for a new era on Wall Street, in which commerical banks, securities houses and insurers will find it easier and cheaper to enter one another's businesses," ran the lead paragraph, while then Treasury Secretary Lawrence H Summers offered: "This historic legislation will be better enable American companies to compete in the new economy."
Obviously, what with G-S being such a disaster, Summers has since disappeared from public life and no longer occupies any positions of influence or power. Well, sort of.

No comments: