CIA Recruits Laid-Off Bankers

Perhaps not the best idea, considering bankers give him a lot of business

(NEWSER) - Wall Street bankers may be a little reluctant to shell out $145 for Mario Batali’s seven-course "tradizionale" dinners after they hear he compared them to, say, the architect of the Holocaust. “The way the bankers have kind of toppled the way money is distributed and taken most of it into their own hands is … as good as Stalin or Hitler and the evil guys,” he said while participating in a panel for Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Response from one Wall Street trader: “What an insult! I must have spent more than $5,000 on his stupid black truffles over the years, and now he says I'm Hitler?!” More»

The president reaches out to Wall Street donors

(NEWSER) - President Obama—who famously angered Wall Street executives by calling them “fat cats,” the New York Times reminds us—is now courting those same executives in his quest for re-election campaign contributions. He kicked off the push by hosting two dozen of them, many longtime donors, at the White House weeks before announcing his campaign to talk regulation, the deficit, and economic recovery. And, in a move at least one financier finds ironic, he will soon host more bankers, execs, and investors at posh New York restaurant Daniel, where the six-course meal runs $195 per "fat cat." More»

No, although a couple were charged and some were embarrassed

(NEWSER) - The government could soon prosecute a few Wall Streeters who allegedly played a role in the financial crisis, and the commission that uncovered those at fault was modeled on a similar probe after the Great Depression. So did anyone who precipitated that collapse ever go to jail? Nope, writes Brian Palmer in Slate ’s Explainer column: “The rampant speculation and eventual crash of 1929 weren't caused by fraud or illegality, but by unreasonable optimism and loose financial regulation.” More»

Meeting sparsely attended thanks to weather

(NEWSER) - Less than 24 hours after jabbing at "fat cat bankers," Barack Obama rounded up every one of them he could find and prodded them to lend more, modify mortgages, and get behind financial reform methods. "America's banks received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry, and now that they're back on their feet we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy," the president said. More»

(NEWSER) - The CIA is looking for a few good bankers to track down millionaire bad guys and stymie financial terrorism, the New York Post reports. Ads on Bloomberg Radio ask money whizzes to use their “intelligence for the work of a nation.” The $160,000 salary will probably be a pay cut for most applicants—provided they still have a job. Interviews will be held at an undisclosed New York location. More»