Welcome back, Glass-Steagall (?)

[Silverbird]

[Ok, this article is rather tongue in cheek, and for those of you who don't know what Welcome Back Kotter is, you aren't going to get the joke. But the other articles seemed too dry to me. Here it comes, spank the banks.]
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/21/markets/thebuzz/index.htm
And the banks are pouting, but why are they surprised??? Using a financial instrument that said that real estate always goes up, that's elementary stupidity.

 

[grandma]

My only question (at this time) : will this, at some point, give the Government a `cookie jar' opening to get their hands into others' monies, rather than just a narrow-mouthed Mason jar opening?

 

[Silverbird]

? On spending, its the Budget or other spending bills you have to watch. They don't get extra money here, unless someone gets hit with a penalty for sneaking in a derviative. Actually the Govt may get less money because the Banks will be regulated further and therefore may make less profit (my heart bleeds - bwahaha) and pay less taxes.

Regulations on the whole are not moneymakers for the Government because they usually come into existance when someone needs to be watched and threatened with a spanking. Both the spanking and the watching mean Govt oversight. But we need regulations unless we like melanine in our baby formula.