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Perhaps, a Revolt?

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“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
– Henry Ford

In case you were wondering what the cost is of “Too Big to Fail” banks, the Federal Reserve has an answer – $440 million (about $4 for every household in the US).  If that seems low, well, it is.  It’s just what it costs to have “enhanced regulation” of those banks that have been declared “systemic” – legalese for protected by you and I.

Where did that number come from?  It comes at the end of a long, watered-down process that has finally defined just what it means to be one of the protected investment banks. It’s all the result of Dodd-Frank regulation that does more harm than good if this is all they can manage.  But perhaps we can make a bit more out of it …

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Banking (and Insurance) Should Be Boring

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Man Behind Desk:  “Mr. Brain, As you know, we here at Fiero & Company are re-re-insurers.    We provide insurance to re-insurers, who insure insurance companies.”
Brain:  “Is that lucrative?”
Man:  “Take a look.” (opens drawer)
Brain:  (big eyed smile) “Ahem!”
– Pinky and the Brain, S1E2, “Of Mice and Man”

One of the basic principles of Barataria is that “Banking should be boring”.  The main argument against financial regulation is that it stifles innovation.  Yet that hallmark of the 2000s has been the source of excessive risk and nearly all the trouble we find ourselves in today.  When banking is boring, the world is quiet and stable and those of us not in financial dealings have a decent chance of actually getting ahead.

The same is true of insurance.  That’s not only true as a matter of policy, it’s apparently true as a matter of making a lot of dough.

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Just Too Big

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“Too Big to Fail” has been a standard for a number of international investment banks, including JP Morgan (JPM) for many years now.  We’ve seen that turn into “Too Big to Jail” where major violations of law result in nothing more than fines which have clearly been absorbed into the cost of doing business as they please.  But the real problem is one of consistent hubris from a company too big for anyone to understand or even manage effectively.  That’s the conclusion of the report issued by Sen Carl Levin into the “London Whale” losses at JPM’s London Office last April.

What happens when a company this large becomes so reckless that a major problem is inevitable?  We might soon find out – at terrible expense.  No matter what, their behavior is becoming a major problem that could give life to a movement that puts an end to the cozy relationship once and for all.  Assuming, of course, we aren’t already too late.

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The Good, Bad, & Ugly

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Longtime readers know that one of the goals of Barataria is to report on news stories that haven’t made the mainstream nooze yet.  Today we have three that are developing into what may yet be the most important economic and political stories of 2013 – the good, the bad, and of course the ugly.

There has been a lot of good news lately on the economy, even as the rest of the world flounders a bit.  It’s that weakness that makes the potential bad news, especially as the world looks to us as a stable and safe place to park money.  But the ugly story comes out of the place we’re used to being a dim spot, the US Congress, supposedly working on an actual budget for the first time in four years.  Think their inaction could screw things up?  Oh, no – it’s what they are doing that is actually much, much worse.  So here are tomorrow’s stories as the develop today.

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Through the Looking Glass

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We live in an economy so through the looking glass that bad news is good news.  So what constitutes actual bad news?  Apparently, no news is potentially the worst news, although it is still shrugged off as nothing.  So perhaps it’s really bad news after all, making it good news.  It’s so hard to tell.

All we’re missing is a Mad Hatter.  Everyone, change places!

The lack of news at hand is the lawsuit against JP Morgan filed by US Attorney Eric Holder alleging a violation of the Martin Act.  That’s a somewhat obscure statute from 1921 that makes interesting lawsuits out of small violations.  The reason this isn’t news is that it wasn’t even JP Morgan, as we know them, that has a problem – it’s from the firm of Bear, Stearns that they purchased in 2008 on its way underwater.  And it involves mortgage problems that the industry supposedly corrected long ago.  The White Rabbit is a solid four years late.

Or – is it really news after all?  They picked up a lot of interesting stuff along the way, including some tidbits from Chase Manhattan Bank (aka Chased MadHatter) so is there more to come?

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