Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

On Financial Reforms, Obama Is No FDR

Proposed regulatory fixes don't actually fix much: Nocera

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 18, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

(Newser) – President Obama is hardly living up to the hype on fiscal regulatory reform, and he's not matching Franklin Roosevelt, either. When FDR reformed financial regulation, he transformed the industry, cheerfully making enemies in the process. Obama has been timid by comparison, writes Joe Nocera of the New York Times: “The Obama plan is little more than an attempt to stick some new regulatory fingers into a very leaky financial dam.”

The Obama plan touches every aspect of finance but won’t change much—for instance, it does nothing to curtail the custom derivatives that created the financial crisis. It embraces the idea of “too big to fail” companies, doing nothing to break them apart or make them less risky. If Obama truly wants anything other than business as usual, this toothless stuff won’t cut it. Like Roosevelt, “he is going to have to make some bankers mad.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this June 6, 1933 black-and-white file photo, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is shown signing the Wagner Unemployment Bill at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo, File)

This Jan. 19, 1937 file photo shows President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (AP Photo)

In this June 23, 1936 black-and-white file photo, President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts his re-nomination from the Democratic National Convention at Franklin Field, Philadelphia. (AP Photo, FILE)

President Barack Obama speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 17, 2009, during his meeting with regulator. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The Obama plan is little more than an attempt to stick some new regulatory fingers into a very leaky financial dam - Joe Nocera

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Which Entertainer Pulled Out of 'Inappropriate' Whitney Tribute? (NewsOne)

The French Government Wants to Tone My Vagina (Slate)

Obama Photo on Facebook Helps Catch Drug Dealer (HuffPost)

Hottest Women to Ever Appear in the SI Swimsuit Issue (Bleacher Report)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

Rob

Jun 18, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

And now you are critical of FDR as well? LOL

gilgordan

Jun 18, 2009 6:48 AM CDT

The Prez and his men and women need Strong leadership and measures to protect consumers. The large banks, consumer credit reporting agencies, and regulatory agencies have forgotten their business responsibility to protect and offer reasonable affordable credit with reasonable ability for consumers to repay. Instead in the name of shareholder profit, greed and leverage the consumer was abused, misused, and now buried under a mountain of leverage, that one study indicates will take decades to payback. While consumers are repaying under contract terms, the large credit providers and the within arms length publicly or privately reporting agencies get bailout funds to protect them and earn tax free income from to rebuild their capital. The consumer gets none of that, and is ultimately held accountable and responsible while the large profit makers continue their ways unabated. In my mind the government out to declare a uniform consumer debt deleverage percentage of 75% be declared for consumers to be right sized on the abuses suffered in the past 30 years. If the enactment is not forceful enough

Altoecko

Jun 18, 2009 6:26 AM CDT

I'm not a Libertarian but I hate Keynesian Economics in any form outside a temporary fix. Obama isn't doing enough to curtail all the systemics risks in the system but I doubt he really has the ability to do that. With information dissemination going as fast as it does he'd be hard pressed to get all sides on his side in an affective manner.

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

Valentine's Day Role-Playing Goes Very Wrong

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Obama's plan the 'Star Wars' of financial regulation
New York Daily News

Five questions Congress should ask about the plan
Wall Street Journal

Abroad, Obama proposal viewed as first step
Los Angeles Times

Money

Barack Obama • Wall Street • reform • regulation • Franklin D. Roosevelt • financial sector • bank regulation • Obama administration • banking industry

More Newser Stories

Obama, Please Screw the Banks

President doesn't have to play nice with these guys

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama went to New York yesterday to beg Wall Street to play nice on financial reform, and Paul Krugman really wishes he hadn't. Obama said reform would ultimately help the financial industry, but Krugman doesn't see the need to play nice with the big banks. “Reform actually should hurt the bankers,” he writes in the New York Times . “An oversized financial industry is hurting the broader economy.” More»

Obama's Economics Are Working

Ignore the political crowd, the president's been great for business

(NEWSER) - President Obama doesn't get much political credit for it, but the numbers show his economic policies have been a resounding success. Since he took office, the S&P 500 is up 41%, credit spreads have narrowed, commodity prices have surged, and housing prices have stabilized, writes Mike Dorning of Bloomberg . GDP grew 5.9% in the fourth quarter, far more than analysts predicted, and job losses have slowed. More»

Obama Ready to Compromise on Finance Reform

Would sacrifice standalone consumer agency to pass bill

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration says it’s willing to scrap elements of its financial regulatory reform effort—particularly a standalone consumer protection agency—if it’ll help the bill sprint through Congress. Republicans have complained that a standalone agency would be a new bureaucracy, so team Obama says it’s open to housing it within an existing entity like the Treasury Department, provided it has the autonomy and power to do its job, the Washington Post reports. More»

Scott Brown Got Late Push From Wall Street

Financial firms poured $450,000 into his Senate campaign

(NEWSER) - In the 6 days before the special election for US senator from Massachusetts, employees of financial companies gave a whopping $450,000 to Scott Brown. The donations came just after President Obama proposed a fee on Wall Street’s biggest players to help pay back lost TARP funds. The influx of cash to the GOP candidate could portend a major push to both kill financial regulation and elect Republicans this fall, the Boston Globe reports. More»

Volcker Trumps Geithner With Tough Bank Rules

Treasury Secretary's influence over Obama fading

(NEWSER) - Paul Volcker scored a major victory yesterday as Barack Obama endorsed his proposal for tough new bank regulations over the objections of Tim Geithner. Obama even dubbed the proposal, which would prevent banks from making speculative investments that don't benefit their customers, the “Volcker Rule.” It’s a major sign that Geithner, who favors much milder reforms, is losing influence, the Washington Post reports. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

On Financial Reforms, Obama Is No FDR