6 Financial Monsters That Have Only Gotten Bigger After Destroying the Economy

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http://www.alternet.org/economy/6-financial-monsters-have-only-gotten-bigger-after-destroying-economy



***SNIP

1. Bank of America

Originally Bank of Italy, BofA has been around since 1904. And a company that had about 100 branches in 1926 now has more than 5,300. BofA played Russian roulette with the economy prior to the 2008 crash, robo-signing countless mortgages on expensive homes for low-income people it knew wouldn’t be able to handle them. After the U.S. economy went into cardiac arrest in September 2008, BofA received $45 billion in bailout money. But instead of being reined in, the company was allowed to continue growing.

***SNIP

2. Goldman Sachs

In April 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek’s website posted a chart showing how much the U.S.’ five largest banks—JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup—had grown in terms of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product). In 2006, the five of them together, according to Businessweek, comprised 43% of the country’s GDP; in 2011 they comprised 56% of American GDP. Goldman Sachs, the smallest of that “big five,” is a veteran of the financial world and was founded in 1869 by financier Marcus Goldman and his son-in-law Samuel Sachs. But Goldman Sachs is not only much larger than it was during the 19th century, it is much larger than it was in 2008, when it received $10 billion in bailout money.

***SNIP

3. JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase is a name that didn’t exist prior to 2000, when J.P. Morgan & Co. (founded in 1871) merged with Chase Manhattan Bank (which had been formed in 1955, when Chase National Bank merged with the Manhattan Company, an institution that started in 1799). In 2011, JPMorgan Chase surpassed BofA as the U.S.’ largest financial institution. JPMorgan Chase has been a major recipient of corporate welfare: the company received $25 billion in bailout money in October 2008, and in 2012, Bloomberg News estimated that JPMorgan Chase had been receiving government subsidies worth about $14 billion a year (a figure partially based on research by the International Monetary Fund). JPMorgan Chase now has $2.4 trillion in assets (according to its own website), which is 12% of the size of England’s economy. If a behemoth of that size runs into problems, the results could be disastrous not only for the U.S., but around the world.

***SNIP

4. Wells Fargo

When CoreStates Bank (previously Philadelphia National Bank) merged with First Union Bank in 1998, many CoreStates customers in and around Philadelphia (where CoreStates had its headquarters) were apprehensive about becoming part of the much larger mega-bank that resulted from the merger. It was the largest merger in commercial banking that had taken place in the U.S. up to that point, but ironically, many of those CoreStates customers—assuming they didn’t take their money elsewhere—eventually became part of a much larger mega-bank than the one created in 1998. First Union merged with Wachovia Bank in 2001, and when Wachovia suffered major problems in 2008, Wells Fargo acquired it.

[SamKnause]

1. The United States of Corporations

With Liberty and Justice for All; BULLSHIT !!!!

The United States of America has suffered a coup.

Not a single shot was fired.

Global banking corporations now dictate all policies in the U.S. "government".

For the people and by the people is an outright lie.

The Obama administration should be charged and prosecuted for aiding and abetting these thieves.

Cue the Obama apologists.

[mtasselin]

4. Obama

I voted for him twice, and I can say he has sold us out, plain and simple. He had a chance to be another FDR but he chose the road of a wall street democrat. I will vote for Hillary if she is the choice, but she will be nothing but a wall street democrat, we need to clean house and start by electing Senator Warren.

[SamKnause]

5. Thanks for your reply and input.

I voted for him as well.

He marginalized the Democratic and Progressives parties.

I will not vote for Hillary.

My conscience will not allow it.

They have the citizens in this country so brainwashed that they continuously vote against their own interest.

When there is little difference between the two parties, voting will not get the results that the majority want.

Both represent the interests of Wall Street, Free Trade, and coddling the global corporations.

I live in the swing state of Ohio.

Enough is enough.

If Hillary is the candidate I will not vote for her.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

2. Wasn't the TeaParty gonna fix this?

[Scuba]

3. Don't worry, Hillary will break up these monopolies. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[SamKnause]

6. Exactly

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I really do not understand the cheerleading for Hillary.

[Jefferson23]

7. Back in 2008 I thought it was possible Obama would uitilize Joseph Stiglitz, I could not have

been more wrong if I tried. Who ended up as the advisers instead, well, we know how well that has worked out.


Five years after the financial crisis, the problem isn’t fixed
by Joseph Stiglitz, October 24 2013, 06:00
http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2013/10/24/five-years-after-the-financial-crisis-the-problem-isnt-fixed


K&R