Paulson’s Fixit Plan for the Financial Markets: Less Regulation, More Power to the Fed

[Crewleader]

by Mike Whitney / April 2nd, 2008

It is being billed as a “massive shakeup of US financial market regulation,” but don’t be deceived. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s proposals for broad market reform are neither “timely” nor “thoughtful”. (Reuters) In fact, it’s all just more of the same free market “we can police ourselves” mumbo jumbo that got us into this mess in the first place. The real objective of Paulson’s so-called reforms is to decapitate the SEC and increase the powers of the Federal Reserve. Same wine, different bottle. Paulson’s real motive is to preempt the regulatory sledgehammer that is set to descend on the financial industry following the 2008 election. There’s growing fear that President Obama will take his firehose down to Wall Street and flush out some of the cobwebs that have collected in the market’s dark corners.

If Paulson’s plan is approved in its present form, Congress will have even less control over the financial system than it does now, and the same group of self-serving banking mandarins who created the biggest equity bubble in history will be able to administer the markets however they choose, without the annoyance of government supervision. That’s exactly what Treasury Secretary and his pals at the Fed want: unlimited power with no accountability.

Paulson is expected to lay out guidelines and principles that are intended to help regulators supervise the financial markets. According to AFP:

“The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets said the current regulatory structure is working well despite calls by some US lawmakers.”

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/04/paulsons-fixit-plan-for-the-financial-markets-less-regulation-more-power-to-the-fed/