Lacking clear criteria, the process lacks crucial transparency, said Ross Levine, a professor of economics at Brown University. "It seems an essential part of the U.S. approach to government that we don't trust the angelic behavior of anybody." Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
ProPublica hits the nail on the head with this story, shedding light on the lack of transparency in Hank Paulson's bank bailouts. Written with the citizen in mind, the author brings in a handful of credible sources to comment on the absence of real criteria for determining which banks receive taxpayer money. A crucial story. High marks for enterprise.
Thoughtful report about the lack of transparency in Treasury secretary Hank Paulson's Capital Purchase Program. Well-researched article, with plenty of factual evidence and multiple expert sources -- and good insights about this important issues.
Great 4th estate journalism that confronts an important issue of government transparency. Plenty of experts cited, with balanced comments from government officials.
A somewhat outdated and mild overview of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's outrageous policies that keep secret from taxpayers how their money was allocated and to whom. Sources cited here--economics and business professors--are not exactly the requisite experts for a story like this. For that, you need journalism professors and constitutional attorneys who safeguard the public's rights via the First Amendment, demanding transparency and disclosure via the Freedom of Information Act, which Paulson has repeatedly circumvented.
Our country was founded on the idea of no taxation without representation. Over time that evolved into no expenditure of taxation without disclosure. Paulson has violated that tenet, creating all manner of conflicts of interest in his narrow view of the world as Wall Street. Watch who hires him when he leaves his post in a few weeks.
“The criteria should be disclosed, at least in broad terms, so that it can be discussed in the open,” said Charles Calomiris, a professor at Columbia Business ... More »
Paul Kiel's investigation into the criteria--or lack of them--for distribution of the world's largest economic bailout is a "must read" for anyone who is paying attention. Of particular value is the link to the two-page application for funding.
The application to work at Goodwill Industries receiving donations requires more stringent scrutiny than the application to receive billions of unrestricted tax dollars to rescue a financial institution from its own bad judgement. "Trust us" is wholly inadequate, given that the people in charge are the very people who created the problem in the first place. I fear we are running out of capacity for increased outrage, for surely if we had any left, this story would be the lead in ... More »
“The regulators are going to use their supervisory information to assess each bank’s eligibility,” said Bill Ruberry, spokesman for the Office of Thrift ... More »
This article raises the issue of oversight and transparency as the United States Treasury Department embarks on the largest financial giveaway in American (World?)history. Since failed regulation--of subprime mortgage lending, of the securities rating industry, of the derivatives market--got us into this mess, how can we countenance behind-closed-doors deals that will lead to the unregulated distribution of public funds? Just the beginning of what needs to become a very public discussion.
If this was a report on how the Treasury is giving away our money,it failed. I know less now than I did before I wasted my time reading it.
Wayne Abernathy says " Who would have thought the people would sit back while the government distributes $250 million dollars." I don't know about anyone else but I've yelled out the window dozens of times, but no one seems to hear.
I think the topic of this story is extremely relevant, however I was deterred by the tone of the author. He sounds disgusted with whats going on and that is effecting his objectivity. I am having trouble believing him because I can sense his feelings on the topic.
This story is straight forward and tells exactly what is happening. It is good that there are links in the article to relevant information.
I had a hard time with this piece mostly, because right off the bat, the authors misnamed our Treasury Secretary, calling him "Hank" instead of Henry. I don't believe it is common practice to call someone a nickname, or the wrong name all together, in a story about such a serious topic. This mistake made me much more critical of the rest of the story. I also felt it editorializing but placing emphasis on Paulson's quote referring to "healthy institutions." Since the premise of the article is about what makes a healthy institution, I felt like the emphasis was overkill and inappropriate. The bold and blue emphasized phrases continued throughout the story, seemingly critical of the two-page application for federal help, and ... More »
Crisply written. Clearly states major statement. Supports thesis with brief supporting quotes from a variety of verifiable sources.
I liked this article because it told a different story. This is something that I don't see that many economics news stories about. I'm not familiar with the news organization at all.
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