Thanks to the repeal of Glass-Steagall, etc. Even Forbes, of all people, thinks so:
Why Son Of Glass-Steagall Deserves To Be Born
John Wasik
Forbes, PERSONAL FINANCE | 7/12/2013
EXCERPT...
What’s at stake? Building a firewall between the monstrosity created by under-regulated derivatives trading. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), last year, the size of outstanding over-the-counter derivatives was $25 trillion; $18 trillion of that was in interest-rate contracts, which are favorite vehicles for banks, which also speculate in precious metals and currencies.
Some estimates, however, place the “notional” size of the global derivatives market to be around $700 trillion. No one knows for sure, since there’s no robust independent watchdog watching this market. If the global financial system were to see another 2008-scale blow-up — or something even larger — there wouldn’t be enough credit or government assistance to bail out the biggest players, which include most of the largest bank and non-bank holding companies in the world.
The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law called for several provisions to regulate derivatives, but they’ve been slow in coming and vigorously fought by the financial services lobby. Many friends of Wall Street would love to repeal Dodd-Frank and retreat to the regulatory free-for-all before the 2008 meltdown.
In the interim, the “son” of Glass-Steagall needs to be passed. While it won’t end too-big-to-fail, it will at least sideline insured deposits — and another potential taxpayer-funded bailout — from the fast, casino world of bankers’ trading desks.
SOURCE:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2013/07/12/why-son-of-glass-steagall-deserves-to-be-born/
Nasty amounts of money. And very few people get to enjoy it.
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