Giant holes in new banking rules
Ferguson: Admin. asked for too little in the banking bill, nothing is preventing another banking crisis
Thomas Ferguson Interview (Part 2)
PAUL JAY: Welcome back to The Real News Network. We're in Boston, Massachusetts, and we're talking to Tom Ferguson about the state of the American economy. Thanks for joining us again, Tom. We recently did a series of stories with McClatchy Newspapers where McClatchy had done an investigation into Goldman Sachs and how they, first of all, cashed in on the subprime mortgage bubble, and then they knew ahead of time that it was going to explode.
THOMAS FERGUSON: Like, they cashed in on the bubble. They cashed in on the bursting of the bubble. Now they're cashing out on this sort of post-burst of the bubble.
JAY: And what a surprise, given that Goldman people are writing all the regulations. And that's—.
FERGUSON: That's unfair, considering that there's surely other financial houses that have people writing the regulations, too. So let's be careful there.
JAY: Alright. The houses—.
FERGUSON: For a nuanced scholar like myself, that's important, you know!
JAY: The players are writing the rules.
FERGUSON: Yeah.
JAY: How's that?
FERGUSON: For sure. Yeah. Look, what's happened in the banking bill stuff is really scary. First of all, the administration asked for very little. I mean the Geithner-Summers-Bernanke, I think it's fair to say they're clearly the three power players in the design of the legislation. They really didn't deal with very much in the way of anything that would really forestall another banking crisis. I mean, and then Barney Frank's committee and the Financial Services Committee in the House actually weakened it further. I mean, the Frank reworking of that bill's actually quite scary and needs a good deal more careful review from the press than it's had.
JAY: Alright. Be specific. What are the three or four things that should have been there and they're not?
FERGUSON: Yeah. Let's be specific. First of all, well, on too-big-to-fail, neither the administration nor Frank really should, in my opinion, make the Federal Reserve the lead regulator on that question. The banks all want the Fed to be their chief regulator, 'cause they know perfectly well they'll control it. I think you'd be better off with some kind of counsel or the FDIC, or almost anything is better than having the Fed be the chief supervisory institution for too-big-to-fail. Second of all, you know, you've got to have a better policy toward too-big-to-fail than they did. I mean, they are effectively just proposing things like better capital requirements and things like that. None of that's going to stop a return to—. I mean, the next time you get a financial crisis—. They're not reining in seriously either leverage—. And above all, specifically on too-big-to-fail, that's where the derivatives regulation these folks propose, that's—that was weak in the administration bill, but Barney Frank's committee gutted it a whole lot more. Basically, the loopholes in that bill—first thing is they wrote a loophole that allows you to pretty much do what you want over the so-called over-the-counter derivatives.
JAY: So explain that to someone who doesn't understand it.
FERGUSON: Okay. The derivatives ought to all be sitting on not just clearing houses but exchanges, where in effect the partners in the exchange, the various members of it, are sitting behind the contracts and actually guarantee it. That gives them all some incentive to actually check on each other. Now, there can—I mean this is a little scarier, actually, than most people are willing to admit, because you can certainly get—even an exchange might decide, "We're going to try to get this, we're going to try to get ourselves, as some people have proposed, special access to the Federal Reserve, so that, in other words, we don't have to really worry about whether all this stuff is sound, and then they'll just bail us out." That can happen. There's not enough consideration given to that. But if you do do an exchange you're surely better off. Moreover, the derivatives need to be just standardized. The standardized stuff you can see. It has a price, it fluctuates, it moves around, and you can put reserves in, sort of like an insurance policy that changes every day—you've got to put some more reserves in or take them out. With prices you can do that. When you go to over-the-counter derivatives, there are no prices. They're just negotiated, and they're not revealed, and they're hugely complex. That's the whole point of them. And when, as Frank's committee did, in effect they sort of gave you loopholes that allow you to leave open the status of foreign exchanges and people who are doing stuff between the US and abroad. You can do just about anything you want in some other currency than bring it back into here, to put it simply. That stuff—and in effect you have no regulation at all. The loopholes, because of over-the-counter and the treatment of the foreign exchange stuff, they're giant holes. Giant holes.
JAY: And this McClatchy piece showed how much of Goldman Sachs' subprime business was being run through the Cayman Islands.
FERGUSON: Yeah. Yeah. There are also this ridiculous end user, commercial—what—sometimes called "end user", "commercial users", the bank trick in this one was to go to large industrial companies—although a lot of these folks turn out to have financial subsidiaries that now are most of the company (an unsympathetic being might even say something like GE should be treated as a bank, for example)—but they went to the end user, to the commercial user, people who claim they hedge with this stuff, and then said, "I'll tell you what. You go with us to have an over-the-counter regulation, 'cause we can then do tailored derivatives for you. And let's not have you guys do any capital set-asides as this stuff gets riskier." In effect what you're doing is you're selling under-priced insurance, and in effect the commercial users and the big financial sellers of this are colluding against the public. In technical terms it's an externality, meaning we're going to pay when this stuff goes down. And that's why it can be profitable for both the—. There is a view which is dead wrong—one some of the lobbying and some of the public interest groups have used—saying, well, the industrial users can't possibly understand what they're doing. Now, they understand very well. Everybody's keeping their capital set-asides low, and they're colluding, in effect, against the rest of us. That view has won out in the House Financial Services Committee. Ms. Melissa Bean in Chicago and others were big pushers on this. And, you know, Frank did not regulate it, did not rein it in. That's a really big hole. It's got to be corrected.
JAY: One of the things that was, I think, an underpinning of the whole bubble, the subprime bubble, was the rating agencies who are giving these bundles of derivatives of essentially mortgage triple-AAA ratings.
FERGUSON: Yeah. They were effectively regulating almost anything AAA.
JAY: And nobody was reviewing anything. In the McClatchy piece, he found out that what had been 100 percent of mortgages being reviewed in the 1990s had gone down to 10 percent of mortgages actually even being looked at. Has anything changed on this? Or can they still give AAA ratings to crap?
FERGUSON: They're likely, I think, to just give AAA ratings to anything. But the real issue here is just telling ratings agencies—.
JAY: Well, you say they're unlikely, but that's just—is there anything in terms of regulation?
FERGUSON: No, no. That was my next sentence, right? The real meaning of this is, look, there's no reason why the privileged status of the rating companies should continue, because in effect what you're actually doing here is they're probably not—they're not very well regulated by state insurance commissions. We know this. What's really going on here is you get a kind of sham good-housekeeping seal of approval, which all kinds of pension funds and everybody else then can say, "I've done my fiduciary duty. I've done due diligence. I'll just buy this junk." You'd be better off just getting rid of that. You just don't need these guys. And I myself rather doubt that the structural problem with the ratings agencies, where they're paid by the folks that they're supposed to rate—it's insane. I mean, you know, if you don't fix that, you don't fix—.
JAY: And there's no accountability. They can rate something three, it can turn out to be junk, and where's the repercussions?
FERGUSON: The "I'll be gone" problem I believe that's in technical terms. Yeah. And, yeah, it's—they're gone. I mean, sure. I mean, the hearings—.
JAY: So in terms of solutions, one—.
FERGUSON: You haven't got any.
JAY: Well, one proposal is—.
FERGUSON: Okay? You can have this all happen again real fast, in particular if—you know, if—all you need is a big change in asset prices down and you're likely to find a lot of trouble again.
JAY: One proposal on the table's been if the public option works for the health insurance in theory, why not a public option when it comes to a rating agency? What about a public agency that does ratings?
FERGUSON: I'm not opposed to it, but I'd also allow anybody that wants to rate them to come in. And the other side of the thing is is right now the ratings agencies have, if you follow the testimony in, that they get a lot of information that no one else does. That stuff's got to be available to anyone who wants to rate those securities. That's an issue. That's one problem that you actually have to sort of come to terms—. I wouldn't favor one public ratings agency, which the record on these things in the last two or three decades is not—you know, I mean, would you—having, you know, in effect—let's not turn it over to the Fed. You know, I mean, the joke I make is the FDIC to banks has a power called prompt corrective action. There's no prompt corrective action for regulators. You need that in the American system.
JAY: So if you were going to lay out, like, three things that need to be done in terms of regulation that are not being done, what are they?
FERGUSON: The Fed should not be the lead regulator on all too-big-to-fail issues. Derivatives have to be all moved on exchanges and standardized, just no exceptions, period, point, end of story. And then, of course, we have to have the Consumer Protection Agency part of the bill—that's been gutted also—needs to be very strong and in there. I mean, that was an excellent idea. It should happen.
JAY: Okay. So when all is said and done, what are your expectations of this banking bill?
FERGUSON: Well, I remind you that America is not a Disney movie. A happy ending is not guaranteed. And it looks to me like the administration's bill, modified by the Frank Financial Services Committee, is not going to pass. It's clear that in the Senate, effectively, one could think of it as the right wing has split in two. That is to say, their divisions over whether the Fed ought to be the lead regulator are so sharp that they're perhaps unbridgeable, and that the Senate bill that Dodd and Shelby are going to write's going to be substantially different. And that's probably going to stalemate the process for a while. We'll see if there's any other bloc of Senators that would come forward with a better public-interest bill. But the chances of having no bill at all are not negligible, and a lot of financial institutions, I think there's a fair number of them that were hoping they'd get a bill through before all their bonus payments come out in January. But apart from that, they'd really rather not have any financial regulatory bill, and they may get their way.
JAY: Okay. So in the next segment of our interview, let's talk about why all this isn't happening, 'cause it's all kind of obvious, yet it's not happening. And the Obama administration came in with a lot of promises. So why not? Why are they not being executed on? So please join us for the next segment of our interview with Tom Ferguson.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tax havens & currency speculation
Tax havens & currency speculation
Kapoor: Tax currency speculation, close off-shore tax havens and raise tax on unearned income
Sony Kapoor is the Managing Director of Re-Define (Rethinking Development, Finance & Environment), an international Think Tank promoting financial system reform. A prominent expert on international finance and development, he started his career in investment banking and derivative trading. In 2003 he quit to work on reforming the financial system and promoting international development. Kapoor has been a leading advocate for debt cancellation, action against tax havens, and promoting innovative sources of financing. He is a key adviser to several governments, international agencies, political parties, unions, and NGOs on helping shape a more progressive society. Kapoor has worked in a policy advisory and strategy consulting capacity for international organizations such as the World Bank, UN, and UNDP, international NGOs such as Oxfam, and Christian Aid, financial institutions such as the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, and Lehman Brothers, and governments including that of Norway. He has studied at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, University of Delhi and the London School of Economics.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
'Moving Beyond Earth': New exhibit explores history of human space flight
'Moving Beyond Earth': New exhibit explores history of human space flightNew exhibit explores history of human space flight
Bringing Life to Mars: How can scientists turn the red planet green?
How can scientists turn the red planet green?
五月天生命故事─張開雙手，才能擁抱世界
永遠聽不膩的歌
咀嚼不完的感受
每句歌詞、每段旋律
都有他動人的地方
都代表著不同的心情
我除了可以透過言語表達心情
還可以唱著他們的歌
吶喊心中的每一句
經歷過自我懷疑、親人病痛的重重關卡，五月天卻從來不改樂觀本性，想要用搖滾樂實現愛 、夢想與勇氣！因為「握緊拳頭的話，你只能對抗這個世界；張開雙手的
咀嚼不完的感受
每句歌詞、每段旋律
都有他動人的地方
都代表著不同的心情
我除了可以透過言語表達心情
還可以唱著他們的歌
吶喊心中的每一句
經歷過自我懷疑、親人病痛的重重關卡，五月天卻從來不改樂觀本性，想要用搖滾樂實現愛 、夢想與勇氣！因為「握緊拳頭的話，你只能對抗這個世界；張開雙手的
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Hope floats on eco-celebrity's recycled plastic boat, Plastiki
David de Rothschild talks about his most dramatic adventure yet: He's readying a sailing vessel, Plastiki, made entirely of recycled plastic for an 11,000-mile journey west into the Pacific. One key stop: a massive, floating plastic junkyard in the middle of the ocean that is the direct result of mankind's polluting ways.
SAN FRANCISCO — There's one big problem with Plastiki.
Sure, the 60-foot catamaran made entirely out of recycled plastic looks majestic enough propped on a wooden pedestal here inside cavernous Pier 31.
But the boat is too small.
Not for the 11,000-mile voyage due to kick off next month, out the Golden Gate and across the Pacific to Sydney Harbor. But rather too confining for its peripatetic creator, David de Rothschild, the 31-year-old eco-celebrity (and scion of Europe's fabled banking family) whose mission is to forever change the way the world sees polyethylene terephthalate — aka plastic.
GREAT GARBAGE PATCH: Birds and boats in danger in Pacific
"Um, it's going to get pretty tight in there," says the 6-foot-4 adventurer, peering into a crew-of-six living area the size of an SUV. "Three months at sea. Wow."
Normally, three months in the life of de Rothschild finds him ping-ponging across the globe, from a London home to his New Zealand organic farm to this Bay Area headquarters, where for two years he and a couple of dozen workers have been conjuring ways to repurpose everyday plastic into an ocean-going yacht.
Their point: If the world continues to create 260 million tons of plastic products each year, it's critical to find ways to reuse the non-biodegradable material.
Otherwise, some of that trash can wind up bobbing in a spot Plastiki will soon set sail for, weather and sea-trials permitting: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a borderless swath of floating debris that sprawls across much of the Pacific. It is symbolism at its simplest, a boat made of recycled plastic plying a sea of wasted plastic.
For de Rothschild, the Plastiki Expedition combines adventuring with activism.
"I saw what climate change was doing firsthand when I had to be pulled off the ice during a trek across the Arctic in 2006 because there was too much melting," says de Rothschild, a horse jumper turned environmentalist. His lean good looks have enhanced his appeal as host of the Sundance Channel's Eco Trip: The Real Cost of Livingand helped him nab the Hottest Guy in Green title last year from the eco-bloggers at EarthFirst.com.
"But the truth is, few can get emotional about carbon dioxide," he says. "So a light bulb went off for me. It's about waste, yes, but the kind we can touch. The kind that's an eyesore."
Risk rides shotgun
Plastiki is by far the most high-profile project from de Rothschild's Adventure Ecology, which aims to raise the awareness of climate issues. This one already has scored news media coverage in more than 30 countries. Nickelodeon's British website has carved out a permanent niche for Plastiki, while National Geographic Adventure has dedicated a full-time blogger.
As with any endeavor, risk rides shotgun. Plastiki's hull and crew will be tested by harsh seas and fickle weather. "It'll be a challenge. There are big storms and a lot of floating junk out there," says Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, whose research trips to the area over the past decade have been laced with peril.
Some of the crew's challenges will be self-imposed. The cramped nature of the geodesic cabin means the sailors will be hard-pressed to find privacy, which may come only from hopping on a bicycle straddling the pontoons. Its pedal power converts to electricity.
There will be enough food for three weeks plus emergency rations. Though there will be island layovers, de Rothschild and crew will mostly fish for their supper and collect rainwater for hydration. "There's a certain degree of self-sufficiency," he says. "But otherwise, we're definitely out there on our own."
It's precisely de Rothschild's bold approach to promoting plastic awareness that has caught the eye of fellow environmentalists and corporate executives alike.
"Pushing people to confront climate issues requires a range of actions, from policy changes to projects like David's," says Josian Heyerdahl, 26. She's the granddaughter of Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, who in 1947 sailed a balsa raft named Kon-Tiki— Plastiki's inspiration — west from Peru to show that early South Americans, and not just Asians sailing east, could have populated Polynesia.
A consultant on environmental issues based in San Francisco, Heyerdahl will join the crew on a final leg of the sail.
"My grandfather's journey affected the way people thought about the world," she says. "David using adventure for an eye-opening purpose hit home with me."
For three decades, Virginia architect William McDonough has been a leading voice on sustainability issues. He applauds de Rothschild's effort "to help the world hit the reset button" on plastic.
"Little things can start big things," says McDonough, co-author (with Michael Braungart) of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. "I love plastic, but I think there's a way to enjoy our packaging and have it be a part of a new design cycle that's about reuse."
Eureka moments
These days, that notion is less revolutionary and more just good business. And great PR.
Among companies contributing money or products to the project — whose cost is in the unspecified millions — are Swiss watch giant IWC Schaffhausen and Hewlett-Packard.
"More than anything, the sheer passion and energy that David brings to this venture got us excited," says David Roman, vice president of worldwide marketing at H-P, which beyond funding also provided boat-design technology and an array of onboard computing equipment. (De Rothschild and his crew plan to document their voyage via live blogs and video shorts at theplastiki.com.) "He really makes you think one person can change the world."
The propelling force of that huge personality came in handy over the past few years. The boat gleaming under artificial lights in Pier 31 went through a crucible of false starts, personnel changes and vexing design challenges.
A few eureka moments stand out. One was discovering how to make rigid the otherwise crushable bottles that adorn the flanks of Plastiki's pontoons, there as much for effect as to cushion the blow from punishing waves.
Turns out, when you place a little dry ice powder into a bottle and cap it, the powder turns to gas, expands and makes the receptacle as solid as a brick. So the gang dropped powder into 12,000 bottles — by hand.
Another breakthrough was even more critical. Where most boats today are made from fiberglass — among the least environmentally friendly materials — Plastiki is constructed entirely of srPET, an acronym for self-reinforcing polyethylene terephthalate. The green material takes the form of a woven fabric with impressive tensile strength.
"There were many times when we couldn't see the end, but David has this unwavering zeal," says Plastiki project manager Matthew Grey. "He's just matter-of-fact: 'This will happen.' "
Sitting on the dock of a bayside pier, de Rothschild bites into a chicken sandwich and shrugs.
"If we arrive in Sydney, sure, that will be a success," he says, washing the sandwich down with some coconut milk. "But the process really is as important as the adventure.
"Our project is a catalyst for a global conversation," he says. "People hear it's a kid from a wealthy European family with a beard who's an environmentalist (and think), 'Surely this must be a stunt.' But I'm not afraid of drawing fire. Our culture has slowly disassociated itself from nature. But that's a model that has failed us. We must rethink it."
'I'm more excited than scared'
Just over de Rothschild's slim shoulders, almost taunting him, sits a gargantuan cruise ship. The floating building is, energy-wise, the antithesis of Plastiki, which will be powered by the wind and sun (though the crew is mulling an emergency outboard).
De Rothschild admits he can't be sure his boat will survive Pacific storms. "Of course, I'm scared, but the truth is I'm more excited than scared," he says.
But, pointing to a few small pleasure boats plying the bay, he has hopes for a practical legacy.
"Why can't these little sailboats be made of srPET? Making that change would be a huge leap, getting away from fiberglass and making use of our old plastic," he says, eyes alight.
That sort of wishful thinking seduced Jo Royle, who signed on to skipper Plastiki after a sailing trip through Antarctica revealed garbage in that icy paradise. "David can help people see we're all environmentalists and should make do with less," she says.
Royale has just nailed Plastiki's mission. Much like Heyerdahl's bold Kon-Tiki voyage made people rethink historical tenets, so de Rothschild has a chance to capture hearts and headlines with his crusade to reassess the way we deal with plastic waste.
"Our boat is just one giant floating water bottle," he says.
This simple image, de Rothschild adds, could be enough to shift people's attitudes toward recycling and the environment.
That, however, just may be a tougher feat than crossing the Pacific in a sleek piece of srPET.
Anatomy of casino capitalism Pt.8
Anatomy of casino capitalism Pt.8
Jane D'Arista on a "public option" in the finan
Spear Fishing for Secrets: FBI: Hackers using junk mail to breech corporate computer networks
Spear Fishing for Secrets: FBI: Hackers using junk mail to breech corporate computer networks
FBI: Hackers using junk mail to breech corporate computer networks
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
AIG Money Trail: Watchdog: Government mismanaged bailout of insurance giant
Watchdog: Government mismanaged bailout of insurance giant
Here Comes the Sun: On the Job Hunt: Clean energy sector creating new opportunities
Here Comes the Sun: On the Job Hunt: Clean energy sector creating new opportunities
On the Job Hunt: Clean energy sector creating new opportunities
Ready for Liftoff: Space shuttle Atlantis preps for Monday launch
Space shuttle Atlantis preps for Monday launch
Shifting Positions: On the Job Hunt: Kia plant helps town; Boeing takes jobs from unions
On the Job Hunt: Kia plant helps town; Boeing takes jobs from unions
How the Federal Reserve works?
How the Federal Reserve works #2
#3
#4
#5
Aninterview : Greenspan says the Fed is above the law.
He says it at 7:40
Anatomy of casino capitalism Pt.7
Anatomy of casino capitalism Pt.7
Jane D'Arista on gold and fiat money
Bio
Jane D'Arista is an economist with the Financial Markets Center in Philomont, VA. She is a Research Associate with the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and author of the masterful study of U.S. financial regulation, The Evolution of U.S. Finance. For more than thirty years, Jane D'Arista has been one of the country's most insightful analysts of financial markets and regulation.
Transcript
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. We're in Hadlyme, Connecticut, with Jane D'Arista. We're talking about a financial apocalypse redux. We got a fair sense of how vulgar this cash-grab has been by the financial institutions. In the last segment, you laid out four or five what are pretty obvious things that would at least go a long way to stopping this from happening again, but it seems like no serious regulation has really seemed to be about to be enacted. President Obama, when he spoke to the nation, selling the bank bailout, he said, yes, there's been too much greed, but really we're doing all this for Main Street, not for Wall Street. What do you make of the performance of the Obama administration in terms of exposing to people what's really going on and doing something to stop it?
JANE D'ARISTA, AUTHOR, THE EVOLUTION OF US FINANCE: I'm not sure that the president knew what was going on. I think this is not his field. He was relying on the experts he chose. And the experts he chose would like very much to have, as would the financial sector itself, everything return to January 2007. And they think that was the way to go, that if they could just hold it up, prices would come back, assets would regain their value. And so they have this false dawn that we talked about before, where, you know, there seems to be profits in the financial sector again.
JAY: Well, before we get back into that, I want to just back up one step. I mean, he didn't have to pick the people he picked. He picked the people who were all the players in the creation of the mess in the first place.
D'ARISTA: Well, that's right, that's right. And the complaint has been really very real about that. Many reporters now ask that question. And so, presumably, it's a choice. Many of us feel these people should go, and we're disappointed that other voices are not being heard. And they're not. There are famous stories out there about various other voices and so on. I won't get into that. I think the issue is also that the Congress was not hearing other voices as well. And so there is something called the Americans for Financial Reform. And the group that I'm part of, which is a group of economists and analysts who are for financial reform as well, up at University of Massachusetts—but, of course, our group is much broader—and we've been clamoring to be heard. So far, a few of us have been heard, but under great pressure to have this kind of witness on. You have this situation in the Congress where the Banking Committee—what we used to call the Banking Committee (Financial Services Committee now) has grown astronomically in numbers. There are about 70 members of the committee now, and there's not much room for an audience in the room, because that's where all the members are. And it's not a deliberative body. It's a body that necessarily has to have strong leadership. And it's getting it from Chairman Frank, but it does preclude a lot of discussion. That means a lot of things are not getting examined. When I was there, what I saw was a kind of a pushback on the part of Democrats, as well as Republicans. And some of that had to do with the move to give the Fed a great deal more power. And there's concern about the constitutional issues. They're concerned about the concentration-of-power issues. There's great sympathy for Sheila Bair, the head of the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Commission], who feels it should be a committee, a commission making the determinations and not the Fed.
JAY: This is about who's going to be the regulatory body.
D'ARISTA: Who's going to be the big systemic regulator. Who's going to really say, you know, this should happen, you have to die institution, etc. So these fights are now beginning to emerge, and I think they will be there with us. The major difference between positions is the administration and so far the Financial Services Committee are voting for discretion; the rest of us want rules.
JAY: Meaning the Fed would be the regulatory body, and the Fed would have discretion—.
D'ARISTA: Yeah. And to say, "Go forth and do good."
JAY: "This day we're going to do this, and that day we're going to do that."
D'ARISTA: Yeah. That's right.
JAY: "And it's up to us to decide what's good for the economy."
D'ARISTA: Right. And what we feel is—.
JAY: And just to remind everybody, the banks control two-thirds of the votes of the Fed and most of the decisions.
D'ARISTA: Well, of the banks, of the Federal Reserve Banks. So the Federal Reserve is a problem. And the head of the AFL-CIO, who testified on the day that I did, said, "We can't go along with that unless you democratize the Fed." So the issues are getting to be rather heated, and they should be. There's a lot of power that is being pushed around. And I think people were really distressed, because the idea was, on the one hand, this commission would be formed. It would be informative. It would collect data. It would tell everybody where they saw the problems. But the real power would be with the Fed. And at the same time, the Treasury also would gain in power, because the Fed would have to go to the Treasury and get written permission to do emergency actions. So this did not sit well with the Congress at all. The politics of it in general are also—there's so much money there.
JAY: Lobbying money.
D'ARISTA: Lobbying money is huge. You know, you know that, in the health-care legislation and so on. But it's very, very big. And so what can we do on our side? Well, Richard Trumka sits there, and he's got a—.
JAY: AFL-CIO.
D'ARISTA: Yeah, AFL-CIO. Sits there with a lot of members. The Americans for Financial Reform has 200 members, a group of NGOs, as we call them, non-governmental consumer groups, labor unions, and AARP [American Association of Retired People]—and we know how many millions of members that is. So what we can simply try to do is remind the Congress that we're out there.
JAY: Do most congresspeople understand the dynamics of how all this worked? Or are they bamboozled themselves?
D'ARISTA: No, they are, they are bamboozled. I think, you know, that probably they don't have a lot of time to read. I think some of the reporting that has been done now—not in the past, but now—is excellent. They don't necessarily have time to read it. And that's why we feel that they should be listening to other voices, 'cause they're going to come and listen, or they'll watch it on the screen in their offices, etc., hearing.
JAY: Do they get that the profound global crash that's triggered by this Ponzi scheme in the finance sector is very likely to happen again? Do they get this?
D'ARISTA: They don't. The numbers for GDP went up at the same time that there was a big meeting of a lot of people who were saying the numbers are no good, we've got to change it, we've got to spend money to collect the real data.
JAY: What is going up if we're approaching 20 percent real unemployment?
D'ARISTA: Unemployment. Exactly.
JAY: And what does it mean [inaudible]
D'ARISTA: Yeah, exactly. So why is this? Well,—.
JAY: Or if it's just some stimulus money hitting, then what happens when that's gone?
D'ARISTA: They aren't able to discriminate on what is going on overseas and how much of that we're counting as part of our GDP.
JAY: And Ponzi schemes are part of GDP.
D'ARISTA: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So they see the financial sector making money. They don't like the bonuses. The compensation issue is very big. What they don't understand is they couldn't pay these bonuses if they weren't doing proprietary trading. Stop it at the source. Don't just say, "Oh, you can't pay more than X." That's not enough.
JAY: So maybe there needs to be this several-million-person march to Washington, like, down with the American kleptocracy.
D'ARISTA: Well, something like that might help.
JAY: Next segment of our interview, let's get into some people's favorite subject, the Fed, 'cause it's a big debate. What should be the role of Fed? What is the Fed? And please join us for the Fed on The Real News Network.
Will Credit Raters Dodge Change...Again?
Although the nations largest credit rating companies are blamed for underestimating much of the risk that led to the financial crisis, so far they have dodged any significant consequences. Investors lost billions of dollars on bonds awarded top ratings by Moodys, Standard & Poors and Fitch, and now Congress wants answers. But will Washington really demand change and hold the raters accountable?
Will Credit Raters Dodge Change...Again?
Will Washington really demand change and hold the raters accountable?
Will Credit Raters Dodge Change...Again?
Will Washington really demand change and hold the raters accountable?
Booming Business at Pawn Shops
A growing number of Americans are heading to pawn shops for extra cash.
Dubai Air Show Puts On A Brave Face
Ashish Joshi reports from the Dubai air show where aircraft manufacturers are trying to keep their spirits up.
Talks Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset
Talking at the US State Department this summer, Hans Rosling uses his fascinating data-bubble software to burst myths about the developing world. Look for new analysis on China and the post-bailout world, mixed with classic data shows.
QUICKIES: sticky notes of 21st Century
The goal of 'Quickies' is to bring one of the most useful inventions of the 20th century into the digital age: the ubiquitous sticky notes. Sticky (a.k.a. Post-it) notes help us manage our to-do lists, tag our objects and documents and capture short reminders or information that we may need in the near future. Keeping track of these sticky notes is a difficult task in itself. They are yet-another passive pieces of paper. 'Quickies' are stickies that have some intelligence and the ability to remind us about the task we ought to perform or to provide us at the right time with the information we captured in the past. 'Quickies' enrich the experience of using sticky notes by allowing them to be tracked and managed more effectively. The project explores how the use of RFID, Artificial Intelligence and ink recognition technologies can make it possible to create intelligent sticky notes that can be searched, located, can send reminders and messages, and more broadly, can help us to seamlessly connect our physical and digital worlds.
http://www.pranavmistry.com
typing (extra)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Galileo and the Year of Astronomy
Galileo first used his telescope 400 years ago. Science Comedian Brian Malow says 2009 may be the most exciting year in astronomy since 1609
The Trouble with Tuna
An exporter in the Philppine port of General Santos City, says big yellowfin tuna is getting harder to catch because of overfishing
RELATEDThe Hunt for Tuna: A Tough Catch
Catching Great Whites for Research
An elite crew of fishermen and researchers seek out the predatory shark.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Supermarket Guru shares his weekly product review.
Supermarket Guru shares his weekly product review.
Sizzling Bacon Bar, Pepperoni...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Anatomy of casino capitalism
Anatomy of casino capitalism
Jane D'Arista unravels the web of banking confidence schemes
Bio
Jane D'Arista is an economist with the Financial Markets Center in Philomont, VA. She is a Research Associate with the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and author of the masterful study of U.S. financial regulation, The Evolution of U.S. Finance. For more than thirty years, Jane D'Arista has been one of the country's most insightful analysts of financial markets and regulation.
Google Latitude
Google Latitude lets you see your friends on a map on Google Maps for mobile and iGoogle. Use Latitude to plan an impromptu meetup, see that a loved one got home safely, or just stay in touch with friends. www.google.com/latitude
See where your friends are on a map with Google Latitude. Latitude is a new feature for Google Maps for mobile and an iGoogle gadget.
Nature's Most Wicked-Looking Robot, the Bacteriophage
Nature's Most Wicked-Looking Robot, the Bacteriophage
I can't lie; I've been waiting for an excuse to post a picture of a bacteriophage*, the microscopic spider virus that lands on bacteria to inject its own DNA, for a long time. This Cyborg Life gives me an excuse.
Rather than attacking typical plant or animal cells, the bacteriophage uses bacteria as its host for replication. Highly specialized, the bacteriophage lands on a specific part of a specific bacteria, and just like a syringe with legs, injects its genetic material (which is stored in that big bulb on top).
It only takes minutes for viral mRNA to convince bacterial ribosomes to makes its own proteins, transforming the bacteria into a virus factory that, in some circumstances, will literally burst with its own product.
For those who believe that a benevolent supreme being created life, it would be only natural to believe that the bacteriophage was spawned from a equally powerful source of evil.
Of course, Man has long reimagined the bacteriophage as a tool for everything from antibiotic alternatives (see what's called phage therapy, a century old idea) to FDA-approved food sprays. While it's easy to consider nanobots as the future of Man's biological domination, sometimes using the machines that nature has already left lying around is the better bet.
Especially when they're this badass.
[Image 1, 2, 3, 4]
* The lead photo is technically a nano-scale model of a T4 bacteriophage. The gallery has real shots.
This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It's about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature's ultimate machine.
Road Trains: Genius or guaranteed pile-up? – EU Infrastructure — What could possibly go wrong?
Road Trains: Genius or guaranteed pile-up? – EU Infrastructure — What could possibly go wrong?
The European Union has financed a study to look at how grouping vehicles into ‘platoons’ or ‘road trains’ on the continent’s motorways could cut fuel consumption, journey times and congestion.
The quite-frankly bizarre idea sees groups of cars linked together via wireless sensors, with a lead vehicle (driven by a ‘professional driver’ – whatever that means) leading the train. The ‘lead driver’ would monitor the status of the road train, allowing those in the other vehicles to sit back, sleep or read a book whilst they travel along motorways.
The EU’s study will be entirely focused on the system working with wireless sensors and up to eight vehicles ranging from your everyday family cars to buses and trains. In theory, these vehicles could be mixed and matched in a ‘road train’, but I’m not sure I’d want to be in between a truck and a bus with no control.
The preliminary report picked up by the BBC says that ‘road trains’ could cut fuel levels by up to 20 percent presumably due to most vehicles being in the lead’s slipstream.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A look at one woman's mission to preserve America's barns.
A look at one woman's mission to preserve America's barns.
A look at one woman's mission to preserve America's barns.
A look at one woman's mission to preserve America's barns.
Peter Diamandis' Opening Presentation at X PRIZE's 'incentive2innovate' Conference
At the 'incentive2innovate' (i2i) conference, hosted by the X PRIZE Foundation in partnership with BT Global Services, the John Templeton Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, Peter Diamandis, Chairman & CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation sets the stage for the i2i Conference and tells the audience about 2 critical innovation tools: 'Open Collaboration' and 'Incentivized Competition'.
For more info: www.incentive2innovate.com
Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn) at X PRIZE's 'incentive2innovate' Conference
At the 'incentive2innovate' (i2i) conference, hosted by the X PRIZE Foundation in partnership with BT Global Services, the John Templeton Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, Reid Hoffman, Founder & CEO of LinkedIn, presented a keynote on the new age of entrepreneurship and why innovation is critical in the current economic climate.
For more info: www.incentive2innovate.com
Laura Karpman: Music as a Vehicle for Change
Laura Karpman: Music as a Vehicle for Change
Momentum and Tides Foundation
A Conversation with GE CEO Jeff Immelt
A Conversation with GE CEO Jeff Immelt
Web 2.0 Summit and O'Reilly Media
Monday, November 09, 2009
Harry Smith विडोस - "A Prairie Home Companion", Garrison Keillor about the history of his show
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Harry Smith speaks with the host and producer of, "A Prairie Home Companion", Garrison Keillor about the history of his show, advice as to how to perform and how it all comes together.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Brock String Training Video - Vision Therapy
Complete vision therapy training video for Brock String.
World's largest Pencil
In the last few years Guinness Record holder Ashrita Furman has always surprised us with a special present for his teacher Sri Chinmoy's birthday on August 27th. In 2007 he wanted to break the record of building the world's largest pencil, and he did it with the help of an international group of gifted and brave friends. It is over 76 feet long, weighs 18,000 pounds, represents the volume of 1,900,000 regular pencils and contains 4,500 pounds of graphite. Watch the building and celebration of this unusual record-breaking birthday present in Queens, New York.
Robert Lang folds way-new origami
Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami -- using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.
Lennart Green does close-up card magic
Like your uncle at a family party, the rumpled Swedish doctor Lennart Green says, "Pick a card, any card." But what he does with those cards is pure magic -- flabbergasting, lightning-fast, how-does-he-do-it? magic.
Jon Stewart Does Glenn Beck
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The 11/3 Project | ||||
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Few people who watch Jon Stewart watch Glenn Beck, so few in the audience even knew he was doing a spot-on parody of Beck and his show. Outrageously great. This ran this past Thursday.
Don Norman on 3 ways design makes you happy
In this talk from 2003, design critic Don Norman turns his incisive eye toward beauty, fun, pleasure and emotion, as he looks at design that makes people happy. He names the three emotional cues that a well-designed product must hit to succeed
Lang-8 Introduction
Lang-8 is a social networking site for language exchange and international communication. At Lang-8, you can write in the language you are learning, have them corrected by users whose native language is the one you are studying, and then help other people that are learning your native language.
Lang-8 makes language learning fun thanks to the social aspect! Make friends and learn about their lives while learning and practicing a new language. Lang-8 makes it easy to learn, and you'll always want to come back to practice!
http://lang-8.com
“Horrible Things” Slink Back Into Zynga
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/07/horrible-things-slink-back-into-zynga/
The Crisis of Credit Visualized
The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. For more on my broader thesis work exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world, visit my website at http://jonathanjarvis.com/ or email me at: jonathan.jarvis@gmail.com
Rethinking Streets in Paris
" Back in July I made a video about Paris' public bicycle system, Velib. Its success must in part be credited to the provisions made for safe cycling and the understood "street code," where users are responsible for others whose vehicles are lighter than their own. This video explores traffic calming amenities Paris has installed. For example, in several areas of Paris curbs have been removed and bikes, pedestrians, buses and taxis coexist at low speeds. On wider roads bikes share the BRT lanes with buses and taxis. Counter-flow bike lanes expand the bike network. Raised crosswalks and neckdowns slow traffic and make pedestrians more visible at intersections. Watch for more. "
The Story of Our Earth Made Easy
Is the Earth really 6,500 years old? And was there a global flood 4,000 years ago? The only way to find out is to look at the clues from the past. This video explains the evidence geologists use that shows slow uplift, erosion and sedimentation over billions of years.
The Origin of Life Made Easy
This is the third in a series of videos about the scientific evidence for our origins video, without the need for deities or the supernatural. This video answers two commonly held fundamentalist misconceptions: That scientists believe life popped out of nowhere, and that life cannot come from non-living chemicals. It explains the most commonly accepted hypothesis about the origin of life on Earth. The video simply shows the various steps to forming primitive cells and challenges fundamentalists to show which one is impossible, and why.
History_of_Our_Universe_Made_Easy_(Part_१ & 2)
The story of how humans learned that our universe is far larger and much older than bronze-age myths led us to believe. This video shows the evidence for the the scale of our universe.
The second in the series of videos explaining our natural, not supernatural, origins. This video showing how our universe, solar system and planet Earth formed through natural and predictable processes. (Music: Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez' adagio -- soloist Kaori Muraji)
Itay Talgam: Lead like the great conductors
An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders
Philip Zimbardo: How ordinary people become monsters ... or heroes
Warning : Graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials.
Philip Zimbardo: How ordinary people become monsters ... or heroes
Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to become a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.
Philip Zimbardo: How ordinary people become monsters ... or heroes
Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to become a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
John Gerzema: The post-crisis consumer
John Gerzema says there's an upside to the recent financial crisis -- the opportunity for positive change. Speaking at TEDxKC, he identifies four major cultural shifts driving new consumer behavior and shows how businesses are evolving to connect with thoughtful spending.
Paul Debevec animates a photo-real digital face
At TEDxUSC, computer graphics trailblazer Paul Debevec explains the scene-stealing technology behind Digital Emily, a digitally constructed human face so realistic it stands up to multiple takes.
Tim Brown on creativity and play
At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play -- with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn't).
Michael Pritchard turns filthy water drinkable
Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it -- inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. An amazing demo from TEDGlobal 2009.
Understanding The Financial Crisis--For Kids and Grownups
Having difficulty understanding the 2008 US Financial Crisis? Here's a short animated video that explains - visually!
Understanding Financial Crisis - Bird and Fortune Style
Understanding Financial Crisis - Bird and Fortune Style
John Bird and John Fortune (the Long Johns) brilliantly, and accurately, describing the mindset of the investment banking community in this satirical interview.
Larry Lessig says the law is strangling creativity
Larry Lessig says the law is strangling creativity
Larry Lessig, the Net’s most celebrated lawyer, cites John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights and the "ASCAP cartel" in his argument for reviving our creative culture.
Tricks for Controlling Portion Size:
What do a computer mouse and a hockey puck have to do with controlling food portions? Dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot reveals tips to help you keep your waistline in check
Tricks for Controlling Portion Size: What do a computer mouse and a hockey puck have to do with controlling food portions? Dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot reveals tips to help you keep your waistline in check
The Evolution of Digital Communities
The Evolution of Digital Communities
Ethan Zuckerman talks about the history of digital communities as a primer for a panel on the community dimensions of the media. The panel was part of Beyond Broadcast 2006. More videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/BerkmanCenter
Friday, November 06, 2009
MEMS Industry Group: An Introduction to MEMS
Using the MEMS accelerometer and the digital micromirror as an example, this DVD explores MEMS technology in a concise, easy to understand, 8.5-minute package. Examples of MEMS are given from all industries, including industrial, automotive, life sciences, and consumer electronics.
How to Bronze Your Salmon
How to Bronze Your Salmon
Craig von Foerster, executive chef of the Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar Restaurant, sears his salmon on one side to lock in the juices; this technique works on halibut, sea bass, or any other dense-fleshed fish.
How to Make a Quick Salsa
How to Make a Quick Salsa
Chef Deborah Schneider, author of ¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge, makes her ancho chile salsa recipe, sharing important information along the way—like how Mexican oregano is different from oregano you’d normally find at the grocery store. See more of Schneider’s basic Mexican cooking tips: how to core a pepper, how to core a tomato, how to pit an avocado, how to toast dried chiles, and a guide to Mexican dried chiles.
Poach an Egg
Poach an Egg
Associate Food Editor Aida Mollenkamp demonstrates how to achieve the perfect poach. Poached eggs can be kept refrigerated for a day or two; in the second video, Aida shows how to reheat the cooled egg. Poached eggs are a lovely accent to many dishes—breakfast, lunch, or light dinner. We like them in the almost-classic Salade Lyonnaisey and in this Roasted Asparagus with Poached Eggs and Miso Butter.
How to Soft-Cook EggsSoft
How to Soft-Cook Eggs
Douglas Ford, sous-chef of LA’s Lucques, always uses farm-fresh eggs when he cooks, insisting that they taste different than mass-produced ones. He adds some vinegar to the boiling water (it makes the shell easier to remove later), and then cooks an average-sized egg for 8 minutes. A smaller egg only needs 7 minutes, and a larger egg, like a duck egg, needs up to 9 minutes to reach the perfect consistency.
How to Steep Tea with David Wong
David Wong, director of tea culture and education at Tillerman Tea, has seen all of the wrong ways that people brew tea. He’s here to show you the right way. There are three “hows” of steeping: how hot the water should be, how much tea to use, and how long to steep.
How to Make an Ecofriendly Surface Cleaner
Irritating chemicals and toxic fumes don’t make for a pleasant kitchen or pleasant cleaning. Mix up your own effective surface cleaner from natural ingredients.
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