Taxing the Top
In a world in which some people keep getting way more than they need, while others can hardly get by, Robin Hood starts to look better and better.
1 min read
The results of the "stress tests" are in.
According to the results, the biggest banks need $75 billion in additional capital to ride out a "prolonged downturn" (as opposed to whatever it was we've just been through and all the money we've loaned out).
The Washington Post has a handy chart here. The biggest potential losers are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and GMAC.
However, according to former banking regulator and S&L scandal prosecutor William Black, the tests are a "complete sham" that don't go nearly far enough. If they really tested banks properly they would show a collective hole of $2
(yes, capital "t"), and force banks to massively increase their capitalization rates.
Read the article here and the interview here, as well as Black's amazing article for D&S way back from 2007.
--d.f.