Bank Eat Bank: Bailout Encourages Mergers, and Paulson Decides who Lives and Who Dies

By Danielle Ivory and Lagan Sebert, American News Project. Posted November 24, 2008.

With newfound bailout money in their wallets, big banks have been rushing to gobble up smaller ones.

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With newfound bailout money in their wallets, big banks have been rushing to gobble up smaller ones. At the center of these mergers is the Treasury Department, led by Goldman Sachs alums Henry Paulson and Neel Kashkari. While neglecting struggling homeowners they have created major incentives for widespread bank consolidation, which could lead to a host of new problems. And, as members of Congress recently noted, Treasury officials seem to be making the rules up as they go.

See more stories tagged with: banks, paulson, bailout, megers

Danielle Ivory and Lagan Sebert are associate producers of the American News Project.

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Paulson and Bush are... [Report this comment] Posted by: bobtr900 on Nov 24, 2008 7:33 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ...are making the financial industry into what they and the Repub party wants it to be. They will continue doing so until Obama gets into office and stops them. Then 'we the people', the little and powerless people have to hope they do a better job the bunch of Bushian Theo-Fascists that have us in their death grip. I think Obama-Biden will do the correct thing, but only time will tell. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » Obama is very much in the mix Posted by: leafsong1 conspiracy theory? [Report this comment] Posted by: jon B on Nov 24, 2008 7:40 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Maybe people don't know this but it has been a sort of "jealousy" of European banks being larger. By allowing, even promoting the consolidation of banking in the US, it would enable the power of elite financing to compete with the big banks of Europe. But not to be too much of a conspiracy theorist, capitalism doesn't like competition. If not for anti-trust laws, every industry in the US would be ruled by one corporation and in the longer term all those one corporation industries would eventually be just one big mega-corporation. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: sweetlilwookims » RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: Cybershaman » RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: jon B The Democrats.. [Report this comment] Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals on Nov 24, 2008 8:13 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] ..They voted for this bailout and they will be fully in charge. Its funny how dumb President Bush is however Nancy Pelosi w/ Harry Reid is in a rush to give them the cash they so called need. p.s. Thank you for bailing out my bank [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » and a great deal of the GOP also voted for the package. Posted by: maxpayne » And alot of them lost there re-election bids Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals Check out the new economic team: sold! [Report this comment] Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Nov 24, 2008 12:04 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Summers, Romer, and Geithner. This is the modern version of Greenspan, no doubt about it. No change from the Clinton era, no change from the Bush Sr. era. The status quo minus the neocons - that's what we've seen so far. Check out Romer getting giddy over Bernanke's appointment: Bernanke taught at Princeton University from 1985 through 2002, then served almost three years on the Fed's Board of Governors. He became chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers in June. "From an economist's view, this is the most exciting thing that has happened. He got it on merit. It's not who he knew," says Christina Romer, an economist at UC Berkeley who, with her husband David Romer, wrote a paper on what makes a good Fed chief. The Romers, both Democrats, say Bernanke is the best Republican Bush could have chosen. Although he is not outwardly political, Bernanke is cut from the same free-market, small-government cloth as Greenspan, the Romers say. These are corporate free-market idealogues - dead-set enemies of everything FDR championed. Looks like "hope and change" was not much more than a nice campaign slogan... and still no word on anything related to energy and the environment. Well, not really surprised, are we? Obama was a big backer of the bailout, raised in Harvard, devotee of the Chicago school of economics, as events have shown. This is historically in line. Presidents campaign on populist messages while serving corporate masters - that's been the story ever since Truman, and here we are again. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Obama is very much in the mix Posted by: leafsong1

» RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: sweetlilwookims

» RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: Cybershaman

» RE: conspiracy theory? Posted by: jon B

» and a great deal of the GOP also voted for the package. Posted by: maxpayne

» And alot of them lost there re-election bids Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals