“Boy, was I wrong,” exclaimed Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman Stanley Fischer, “I thought that when Dodd-Frank started, that the banks would not succeed in influencing it, having lost all the prestige they lost.” Just like the Fed’s economic and rate forecasts, Fischer’s political perspective could not have been more incorrect. Rather stunningly confirming Fischer’s admission, The Hill reports JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made calls to lawmakers on Thursday urging them to support the “cromnibus” spending bill, according to no lesser brain-trust than Rep. Maxine Waters. Perhaps Fischer inadvertently summed up the state of reality as WSJ reports, when he opined, “we are two bad decisions away from not being an independent central bank.” We might suggest the “two” decisions went by a long time ago.
Did the political influence of big Wall Street banks wane after the financial crisis? Not according to the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Fischer begins speaking at around the 1:06:30 mark…
As The Wall Street Journal reports,
Stanley Fischer gave some unscheduled remarks Friday morning at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, waxing philosophic about the global process for setting financial-system rules.
Mr. Fischer suggested rules set directly by legislatures can be imperfect, lamenting the role of Wall Street banks in shaping the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law.
“I thought that when Dodd-Frank started, that the banks would not succeed in influencing it, having lost all the prestige they lost,” he told a crowd of several dozen at the Washington, D.C., think tank. “Boy, was I wrong.”
…
Mr. Fischer also recalled how during his time leading the Bank of Israel, he felt keenly aware of political considerations. When his central bank colleagues asserted that the institution acted independently of the elected government, his reply was, “Yes. And we are two bad decisions away from not being an independent central bank.”
And as if one need confirmation of this total farce… The Hill reports,
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made calls to lawmakers on Thursday urging them to support the “cromnibus” spending bill, House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told reporters.
Dimon’s involvement came amid progressive outrage that the House cromnibus included a provision that they said would weaken Wall Street regulations.
“I think we got hurt when Jamie Dimon and the president started to whip,” Waters told reporters after the vote. “That’s when I think we lost some votes.”
“What does it say? It just seems very odd,” Waters said. “It is just very strange that the two of them would be working for the support of this bill.”
…
Waters and progressives opposed the budget due to changes to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Law that were supported by Dimon and other big banks.
When asked if she thought that Obama had sold out to Wall Street, Waters replied: “That’s not for me to determine. I know that the president was whipping. I know that Jamie Dimon was whipping and calling directly into members’ offices. And that’s odd. That’s an odd combination.”
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And so it goes… when will the American public wake the fuck up!??
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/16mPH0v Tyler Durden