Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Compromised Fed Captured by Bankers

When Mother Jones and the Wall Street Journal come to the same conclusion regarding Wall Street's control over the Federal Government, there's a truth unveiled that goes beyond partisan politics. Yet real reform is far from being instituted. Mother Jones' Kevin Drum and David Corn discuss with Bill Moyers the intellectual as well as regulatory capture that the banking industry has over the complex issues which control our economy in this fiery podcast.

Moyers, who has maintained a calm interview style in the past, has come out punching in his last few shows. He will be retiring his show in March and it will be fascinating to see where he next moves. His strongest passion has been for campaign finance reform as envisioned by FairVote.org.


Excerpt from Jan. 8, 2010 show:

MOTHER JONES political blogger Kevin Drum explained the phenomenon using a term used by economist Simon Johnson:
It goes beyond regulatory capture, where, say the banks control the S.E.C. That's one thing. "Intellectual capture" means that essentially the financial industry has convinced us — you know, in the '50s what was good for General Motors was good for America — now it's what's good for Wall Street is good for America. And they've somehow convinced us that we shouldn't ask about what's right or what works or what's good for America. We should ask what's productive, what's efficient, what helps grow the economy.
It is this "intellectual capture" that prevents a reform movement from taking hold. David Corn, Washington bureau chief for MOTHER JONES, explains:
While [people are] angry at Wall Street, particularly on the corporate compensation front — which is very easy to get angry about — they also are fearful of taking Wall Street on, because they've been taught that if the Dow falls, if you take on the big banks, it's going to be bad for all of us. So, it really is this "Stockholm Syndrome," where we're forced to identify with people who are holding us hostage without our interest in mind.

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