For Econ Wonks

Comment O' Teh Day:'

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E6DF143DF930A25752C1A96F958260

The New York Times, November 13, 1999:

President Clinton signed into law today a sweeping overhaul of Depression-era banking laws. The measure lifts barriers in the industry and allows banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge and to sell each other's products.

''This legislation is truly historic,'' President Clinton told a packed audience of lawmakers and top financial regulators. ''We have done right by the American people.''

The bill repeals parts of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act...

''The world changes, and Congress and the laws have to change with it,'' said Senator Phil Gramm...

''With this bill,'' Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said, ''the American financial system takes a major step forward toward the 21st Century -- one that will benefit American consumers, business and the national economy.''

Meanwhile, recognizing the arson:

http://www.thenation.com/archive/detail/14239331

The Nation Magazine / Nov 15, 1999 edition:

For their money, the finance industry bought not only the end of the Glass-Steagall Act but also the partial repeal of the Bank Holding Company Act. These landmark pieces of legislation, recognizing the inherent dangers of too great a concentration of financial power, barred common ownership of banks, insurance companies, and securities firms... the misnamed Financial Services Modernization Act will usher in another round of record breaking mergers... PAVING THE WAY FOR FUTURE TAXPAYER BAILOUTS OF TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL FINANCIAL CORPORATIONS.

How do we score that?
The Nation 1, Establishment 0.

Where were you the day they sold us down the toilet? I was probably working.

Related.