Is Financial Reform Dead? Pretty Much, Says Bookstaber

Everyone always says "finger pointing" is a bad thing. Usually true but not always. Sometimes finger pointing is a good thing if it identifies culprits and punishes wrongdoing. The gov't should have spent more effort in coming up with long-term solutions to the causes of the financial crisis - but instead were hell-bent on getting good short term results. We should have punished (or let the free market punish) the financial industry for it's irresponsible actions - doing in-depth fraud investigations and reforming existing regulations and letting bad companies fail. Instead, we rewarded the financial industry by lavishing TRILLIONS of taxpayer dollars on them. What the hell does everyone expect will happen? Of course we're going to see more crazy risk-taking, the profits are privatized but the losses are minimized due to taxpayer backstops.

we are all suckers, we need pre-nups with our politicians. they run an election campaign on real ideas and get elected and get paid, by the corrupt forces that created the points they were elected to fix.

LOL!!!! It's BOOKSTABER, not BACKSTABER!!

Get the guy's name right. He's NOT a "Backstabber"!!!

The human race will not learn from it's bad ways. The Wallstreeters, Banksters and their paid of Whores in DC will take everyone for alot more next time. Then we will hear the same thing from the public that we heard nine months ago. "How could they let this happen" "They should have never deregulated the laws to protect the common man" "To big to fail" (They are much bigger now thanks to the Whores in DC who gave them our Tax money to go gamble some more with) The next time most people will loose 50% or more of their 401k's and then they will all be ready to shoot or hang someone. All I can say to them then is 'LOOK IN THE MIRROR BUDDY"

There was never any prospect for reform. Sociopaths are incapable of reform. They're inveterate liars, thieves, and murderers, by nature. There is still hope for the people, however. Sociopaths are so blinded by their own greed and hubris that, when objective mathematical reality obstructs their plans, they inevitably fail to adapt. The kingmakers' pockets are full of gold, but that will not prove to their advantage when the ship of state sinks and they are forced to swim for the shore.

They DID lose 50% or more in their 401ks this time. But your point is well taken. History always repeats and their will always be the next financial panic.

Sounds profound, but essentially meaningless.

(wasn't that a song by the O'Jays?) --- It's not true that there has been no reform, but not enough apparently to satisfy the "government knows best" handwringers. On the other hand, I think we can be thankful that the "reformers" didn't go overboard and move to overregulate commodity markets, and thereby cause even more jobs to leave the US. New York will rise again, and the US with it, because we are smart enough not to make Washington the financial capital as well as the governmental - unlike most European and Asian countries.

Aaron, I very much enjoy your segments, but have one request that would make them even more helpful. Could you please sspeak a bit more slowly.

This could be the day I was warning about last week - place your stops if you haven't yet done so. The correction is overdue, and these things have a way of snowballing as the programs kick in...

there was never the intent to reform.GS got rid of their biggest competitors BS,LEH,MER therefor mission accomplished.Another $cam on the taxpayers with more centralized power,just like the national healthcare scam in which we pay for an overpriced system and use that platform to issue new I.D.'s with smart chips.

If Goldman Sachs feels that no regulation is necessary for Wall Street then there will be no regulation. Nothing has changed, the opportunity was there but instead of seizing the moment the too-big-to fail banks were bailed out. Oh well, the rich stay rich at the expense of the taxpayers.

Since the demise of the DB pension (i.e. the greatest transference of risk from employer/shareholder to employee in US history) we're all in the market whether we like it or not. Therefore, its entirely reasonable for the public to demand greater oversight, either through breaking up some of these huge firms or raising reserve requirements. Bringing back Glass Stegal would help to signify they mean business. I agree with the commenters and the author, nothing will happen.

This guy thinks that derivative are ok?I guess he also believes that we should hand out loans to potential defaulters of those loans.

The FDA, Big Pharma, Hedge Funds, and Litigation Law firms run America. The health care hoopla was never intended for passage. It is a preplanned noisey sustained distraction from campaign promises which essentially amounted to hedge fund reform. Neither if these mega-corporation oriented problems are reformable under a corporate-run-election-system whose goals are to keep laws as they have designed them for their best interests. Elections are not run by the people. That is the problem needing reform. It will take a revolution.

The FDA, Big Pharma, Hedge Funds, and Litigation Law firms run America. The health care hoopla was never intended for passage. It is a preplanned noisey sustained distraction from campaign promises which essentially amounted to hedge fund reform. Neither if these mega-corporation oriented problems are reformable under a corporate-run-election-system whose goals are to keep laws as they have designed them for their best interests. Elections are not run by the people. That is the problem needing reform. It will take a revolution.

Yahoo should ban this guy popoy from posting comments / he makes no sense whatsoever / he misspells words / he's got to be moron that never went to school

What else can we expect? When the government agrees to pay for any risks (losses) taken by these Corporations, what is their downside?........ If you were in Vegas,and your losses would be covered by someone else, but if you won you got to keep the winnings, you'd bet and bet BIG. They are playing with our money. .

Reform works when there is a willingness to reform. Show me where there is a willingness??? It's true... reform should be imposed to prevent bad things from happening, but now everyone is focused on healthcare ... and, yet, nothing is done... The American taxpayer puts these people into office for some obtuse reason... Every time the American middleclass starts getting a little wealthier, something happens...and the American middleclass becomes the pawn again... then we go into this time honored period of blame-gaming and pointing fingers and the politicans just sit back and laugh.... Now we are going to read all these posts as to why one side is better than the other side and how one side caused all the problems whereas the other side only did good things. until the American middleclass understands they are being played by the politicians, the American middleclass will never get anywhere. Quite frankly, I am overly pessimitic with this form of government we have in America. There is no political party and/or ideology that serves the actual people ... and the politicians have done everything they could to continue this betrayal because they know very little will be done to stop them... Let the games continue.