Poll: Americans Back Economic Intervention

Report blames mismanagement, poor regulation, excess risk

(NEWSER) - Corporate mismanagement, excessive risk-taking by Wall Street, and inadequate government regulation caused the 2008 financial crisis, according to a 576-page report by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, due to be released today. The report blames policies by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Fed chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, and regulators, who the report says lacked "the political will" to hold accountable an industry that spent $2.7 billion on lobbying from 1999 to 2008. Among its other conclusions, as reported by the New York Times : More»

GOP argument against reform is upside-down, writes Paul Krugman

(NEWSER) - With financial reform on deck, Senate Republicans are busily figuring out how many "can get away with claiming that war is peace and regulating big banks is doing those big banks a favor," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Alabama's Richard Shelby is portraying efforts to rein in big banks as a bailout, and John Boehner recently urged bankers to stand up to Congress and "not let those little punk staffers take advantage of you." But in this case, Krugman says, it's those "punks" who are looking out for the taxpayer. More»

(NEWSER) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke fielded questions from the public in an unprecedented town hall meeting last night, the Kansas City star reports. Sounding every bit like a candidate running for office, Bernanke defended his moves during the recession and financial crisis, saying he had learned from his predecessors' mistakes in the 1930s. "I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression," Bernanke told the audience. More»

The Fed stands to gain some powers and lose others

(NEWSER) - Among the myriad things that will be reshaped by the current economic crisis is the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steps the Fed has taken to stave off further economic turmoil have made it more vulnerable than it has been in years: If a lasting recovery takes hold, the 21st-century Fed may gain some important new powers—including the authority to regulate financial institutions, other than banks, that are so big they put the system at risk. More»

Rescuing firms from mess they created will send message that bills don't need to be paid

(NEWSER) - America needs to learn some hard lessons that a $700 billion bailout of the economy isn't going to teach, David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post. If the the country manages to dodge a depression, the message will be that irresponsible behavior brings a rescue, and that bills don't need to be paid, he notes. More»