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U.S. Representative Barney Frank is expected to introduce legislation this week that will set new rules on when the government can step in to save banks that are too big to fail.
We’re looking at perspectives on the too big to fail policy from MSNBC, Daily Finance, CNBC and The Atlantic.
Futures Industry Executive Mark Fisher was on MSNBC’s Morning Meeting saying that he agrees with the necessity of the bailouts, but that the government doesn’t get its money’s worth out of the policy.
“I buy the fact that the government had no choice but to do what it did, and it’s very easy for you and I to sit here today and say ‘Why’d you do that?’ But, having done that, someone should have had the presence of mind to say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to go ahead and bail out the banks, if were going to go ahead and prevent the domino theory then we need to get our pound of flesh.”
Lita Epstein wrote on her blog on the Web site Daily Finance that this could be a good test of new finance policy.
“This proposal sounds like a trial balloon that’s going to quickly burst. Opposition will rapidly grow to such a dramatic change in the handling of failed financial institutions. But the plan just might succeed in getting the financial industry in the mood to negotiate something less drastic.”
Steve Liesman from CNBC says that although bailing out banks can hurt the nation’s confidence in the banking system, the government hopes this new policy will motivate the industry to start regulating itself.
“The idea, Michelle, is to put the creditors on notice that you could lose money the next time this happens and the hope is Michelle, and this should warm your heart, that the market would then enforce greater discipline on the risks these banks take if the creditors know they could be on the hook later on if these firms go down.”
Finally, Andrew Sullivan writes on his blog for The Atlantic that this is a pivotal moment for President Obama to stand up to the biggest banks.
“How do we prevent Wall Street from repeating its recklessness of the past decade? How do we ensure that no single entity can hold the rest of us to ransom as these banks did? If Obama’s reform measures are milquetoast, then he will have missed a critical moment to help capitalism help itself.”
So what do you think? Should the government put more restrictions on large financial institutions? Or is Congress overstepping its bounds?
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