Ratigan's Four Simple Yet Brilliant Proposals On How To Fix The System
This must have been one of those "so simple it would never occur to any politician" epiphanies. Four great points by Dylan Ratigan that should immediately be taken up by pro-reform politicians. If Barney Frank deems these are unenforceable or not worthy of his attention, replace Barney Frank immediately.
Dylan's four (shockingly logical) proposals on how to fix the broken financial system:
- Inject transparency, primarily to bring almost $500 trillion in swaps to the forefront.
- Capital to back Wall Street's gambling. It is a guarantee that very few firms will have Goldman's trading pattern each and every quarter.
- Enact a tax-code to discourage short-term profits. "Fortunes should not be made in minutes but over years through the creation of value to society."
- Break up the Too Big To Fail banking institutions. Start with Goldman Sachs. Right Now. Christine Varney, we are still looking at you.
Full must watch clip:
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on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:04
#119847
Enact a tax-code to discourage short-term profits. "Fortunes should not be made in minutes but over years through the creation of value to society."
Daytraders are not going to like that.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:20
#119883
I'm sure GS will be in favor of it too.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:01
#119964
I'm against anything that deals in more taxes. Taxes are one of the main things that is killing America.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:19
#119999
That and politicians. And stupid people, but I repeat myself (at least in the main).
I am Chumbawamba.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:48
#120296
Taxes are killing America? You do realize that America has done fantastic during times of much higher taxation, don't you?
Ignorance of history is killing America, and your comment is fine evidence of that.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 19:10
#120403
Better for whom? You mean like during the Carter Admin? and leading into the recession of 1920? Real winners there. Rates of 70% and <90% respectively.
I suppose you believe FDR saved us too?
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 05:18
#120673
I dont know how many times this has been said, but it is worth repeating:
Federal Reserve Act: 1913
Federal Income Tax: 1913
This was not an accident. Taxes are not even the main source of revenue for the government, going into debt is the main source. Taxes are a form of control. Too many little rascals in the street? tax baby cradles, diapers and baby powder. Too many people smoking for your liking? Tax cigarettes. Too many people drinking? Tax Alcohol. Not enough people using corn (for the corn lobby's liking)? Place a quota on sugar.
Taxes are a measure to make people do what you want. It is simply a form of leverage for the government that it should not have. They also create excess burden and that drags on the economy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_burden_of_taxation
Taxes are inefficient and stupid. But I would not even mind regular taxes, as long as we did not have the hidden tax of inflation, the most regressive tax of all. If inflation is not around, the need for taxes would be smaller since debt service payments would be smaller, and government spending would not have to necessarily be wasteful in order to create a glut in the market so that new money has to be created to cover the new debt, instead of the old money disappearing into treasuries.
So I would have to disagree with Dylan's point about taxes (not a frequent act). If we just remove the hidden tax of having the Fed (and hence inflation/printing) exist, we wouldn't even need his proposed tax to counter balance the negative consequences of that tax.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 18:03
#120321
Yeah, Increase the taxes on s/t profits and the unintended consequence will be even more riskier s/t speculation and more out of wack markets.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 08:12
#120704
No, actually taxes aren't killing America..it is the people who dodge taxes that are. Wouldn't be nice if all of us could claim our "salaries" as long term capital gains, or write off every cent "earned" as a "business expense". Get rid of income taxes and replace it with a NO exemption national sales tax is the answer. And include a penny tax on every stock trade, and the national debt will be gone by next week.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:43
#120031
Yup, I don't like point 3 either and do not agree with any law or regulation that nudges people to do long term investing...Make profit where u can, time has nothing to do with that. Even algos are fine, just the unfair data feed is the problem.
Point #1 of bringing the transparency will take care of short-long term profits debate....no encouragement/discouragement is needed by anyone. JUST ENFORCE THE BASIC COMMONSENSE LAWS AND LET PEOPLE BE FREE.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:01
#120162
Increasing taxes for short term investment is ridiculous. Just another way to force you to stay in the market. Terrible idea. Because I can make money in a shorter period tax me more?? Nonsense.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:24
#120210
+++Indeed!
HFT/GS Manipulation aside, traders encourage price discovery and provide for liquid markets. Duration is not the issue here. Ratigan is correct about value creation for business, but this problem is spawned from government interference in capital markets, not me selling MSFT to Mr. Durden after buying it yesterday.
Since we're on the subject, you shouldn't be punished for holding any asset for x amount of time vs y amount of time -- the whole capital gains tax structure is absurd. In effect, people get punished for putting their own capital at risk if that risk pays off. Though, the government will punish you anyways for holding on to your money via inflation. Either way .Gov confiscates our assets.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:26
#120112
I generally agree. The only question is the time frame.
Just tax any profits made in under an hour. Normal day traders don't make their profits on that kind of a time frame anyway. It will, however, put the brakes on HFT.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:20
#119882
But...but....Dylan doesn't seem to understand that TBTF was endorsed by the very government he's asking to unwind it. Think of the millions in campaign contributions going up in smoke if the Beltway critters reinstated Glass-Steagall.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:22
#119886
4 things that will never happen under our political system.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:04
#119903
... until they Goldman sucks every last red cent out of the American public... pretty soon Bernanke won't be able to print enough money to keep up with what Goldman sucks out every day.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:15
#120195
I think that is the situation we find ourselves in presently MnNice.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:40
#120136
Pelosi (jointly) owns hundreds of millions of dollars worth of CRE, and Tim, Barney and Ben will use their 'You can't handle the truth' argument against transparency ad infinitum. The facts will never be divulged because they can't let them be divulged, and those in power will continue to do anything necessary to kill the dollar. The resulting lives ruined, businesses crushed, and people left homeless and unemployed are merely collateral damage. Please understand they careth not.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:35
#120274
Then Nancy, Tim, Barney & Ben need to be replaced due to a massive conflict of interest.
Oh right, that aint gonna happen. What then????????
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:27
#119894
I can't see that these 'changes' address any fundamental sources of the problem. He might call them 'Real' but I call them 'Superficial'.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:31
#119910
breaking up the banks will fix the symptom, not the problem, they'll all end up creeping back together again.
also, everyone and their brother agrees we need more transparency...it's the how that's the problem.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:33
#119918
Transparency is clarified at the end of a rifle barrel. Give everyone a gun and make competence of their use mandatory for all citizens, and that will clear up a lot of problems.
I am Chumbawamba.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:19
#119998
Homegrown bacteriophage that have a curious transduction profile are better than a fully silenced 45.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 08:20
#120706
WOW...you guys have just solved what Planned Parenthood was trying to do all alone. If Planned Parenthood had been an extension of the NRA or GOP, we would not be having a resources problem.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:27
#119897
how can BSnbc allow someone like dylan ratigan to tell it like it is? we peons don't want the truth cuz 'WE CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH'.
fire dylan immediately and replace him with dennis 'beaker' kneale and steve LIESman.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:51
#120299
I represent that remark.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:29
#119906
Until every current and former GS employee is jailed, our country and it's financial system is doomed.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:31
#119911
#5: Re-establish a Constitutional metallic monetary system.
I am Chumbawamba.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:45
#119940
Who was William Jennings Bryan?
The problem is inflation, not Fiat. Fiat is just another mechanism to inflate currency, but blending other currencies and precious metals to the monetary standard has been suggested and successful in the past. So you go to a gold standard! It can quickly become a gold and silver standard. Or a gold, silver, and copper standard. Fiat is a reflection of the fact that CB's can and will devaluate their currencies whenever they please. Why pretend for your comfort that a modifiable standard will protect your wealth?
Politicians service debtors, and have since time immemorial. The difference in this particular financial apocalypse is that the wealthy hedged with massive amounts of derivatives. There is nowhere to hide, nothing to redistribute this time around.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:40
#120023
#6: End the Fed
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:17
#120198
Personally Chumb I prefer the concept behind Colonial Scrip.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:33
#119916
who allowed dylan ratigan and brilliant to be that close together?
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:33
#119917
Dylan isn't getting to the heart of the problem with his proposed solutions. The heart of the problem is dishonest money and a dishonest money system via the Federal Reserve.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:44
#119936
The problem is not GS....
Who would care if everyone is doing well ?
The problem is due to excessive govt. spending and the wrong tax structure....
If a 10% State Consumption tax....and a 5% Fed Consumption
tax....were the only taxes allowed....then what would immediately happen in the US ?
There would be more entrepreneurial businesses formed such that there wouild be labor shortages....
And one more big big add on....
A fully electronic direct access stock exchange whereby there are no taxes of anykind....and is completely de-fragmented....
There would be no account minimums or maximums.....but there would be a size limitation....
There would be no uptick rule in that supply would be the amount outstanding electronically tagged....
Also the cost of transfer should not be more than 20 cents per 100 units ....and margin would be 4:1 both intraday and overnight......
These two items alone would cause labor shortsages in the US....
A de-fragmented fully electronic exchange is easy to electronically regulate....no dark pools....all price discovery occurs only on the exchange....
Mandates would be granted to the states not the Fed on tax expenditures which would all but eliminate the lobbyists....
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:45
#119942
Empty rhetoric from a jew toob talking head.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:49
#119951
Credit where credit is due. Kudos to Dylan Ratigan.
Doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are very rarely the same path.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:56
#119962
On one hand I like his ideas, on the other I want to keep my livelihood by trading the ES- Mini, sounds like his proposals would eradicate this on some level.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:58
#119965
Just what society needs... a tax on trades that do not last as long as the Dillon or some other deems long enough to be virtuous. Excuse me while I vomit.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:58
#119966
It's all in the roots of the trees. Anything that doesn't support you and asks you to support it is not worth your time or effort. The banks are not supporting america, wall street is not giving them the gains they need to cover the losses they get to retire and they threaten to crash the entire system if they don't get the support they need to be self destructive and socially destructive.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:59
#119969
F$ck the system, let it fail.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:21
#120000
Seconded.
I am Chumbawamba.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:03
#120167
Thirded. <TRIFECTA!>
And daytraders -- just what value are you adding? I have no problem with your choice of livelihood, but face it: you're like realtors -- you accumulate money by extracting it from the system, rather than producing something of value.
If we lost 20% of our farmers, everyone would suffer. If we lost 30% of the daytraders, how would we be any worse off?
Hypocrite alert: I spent 10 years writing bond trading algo's. Flame on.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:19
#120201
Cheers.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:40
#120284
But then you saw the light!
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 13:59
#119970
disagree with number 3 because it is patently retarded and panders to fucktards.....the time it takes to make a profit is irrelevant...who the fuck is anyone to determine if a new york minute or 34 years is too quick? what if it's a day over?? fuck you....
i would advocate raising taxes on rentier activities....this would rebalance the strong bias for production destroying activities toward productive economic activity and reduce the power of the fire economy.....
strongly agree with #5 hard money proposal...
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:16
#120255
Ya there's super people who can do things much quicker than normal people. I heard Bill Gates can lift a tree off a child in a disaster area just by rebooting it. And oprah can cook enough food for 10 million starving babies in 38.9 seconds. These people are doing it all by themselves they got no spotters. I mean when you make 35 million dollars in a minute you could easily produce those relevant things in the real world. It's not like you are going to spend the money slobbering over 2 mllion dollar super cars because you care about the people you interact with.
But you see you would have to face that fact that your the fucktard trying to create the fucktard reality. Which is fine. But you are going to need alot of fucktard assistance to make that fucktard instant money mean a fucktard thing. So go fucktard yourself till you can figure out how to do it all by yourself like our fine bill gates and oprah can.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:12
#120614
ROFL Hephasteus !
and now, for something completely different:
http://www.rofl.name/asciiart/
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:00
#119972
"Fortunes should not be made in minutes but over years through the creation of value to society." In this scenario, I would love to hear the ideas from Congress about what creates value to society. Under this proposal, I declare that MSM anchors who simply talk add zero value to society and therefore their short term discussions of anything should be taxed accordingly.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 11:04
#120811
No flaws in that comment...
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:00
#119975
Welcome back from the dark side, Dylan shows that you can escape from CNBCland, but is it at counterculture rues. At least he speaks the truth. - zeek
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:05
#119981
We already have a tax code that penalizes short term profits. It is called short term capital gains tax.
Isn't this the creator and former host of CNBC's Fast Money......
This hipocacy knows no bounds. The only thing this wind bag is interested in is his own ratings and self interest, just like those people he vilifies.
Please stop posting so many of his rants. It is bringing your site down.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:12
#119992
Dylan is my hero!
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:14
#119997
Dylan Ratigan is a populist buffoon. The root cause of our economic decay is ever-expanding government intrusion into all aspects of the economy, funded by a bogus monopoly money regime at the Fed.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:35
#120015
I agree with another poster who correctly said that breaking them up without taking away their access to the Fed and the fractional reserve banking process would simply allow them to creep back together again. Why should banks be allowed to create money out of thin air and loan it at a profit? Josiah Stamp explained it brilliantly in a speech at the Univ. of Texas in the 20's., " .... if you want to remain slaves to the bankers allow them to continue to create deposits.." (paraphrasing)
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:37
#120021
There's a simple word for it: Fascism. An alignment of commercial and political interests. A combination of authoritarian, ademocratic rule with corporatism.
The facts speak for themselves. America is currently under fascist rule. Period.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:50
#120046
Let it burn.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 14:59
#120070
Sorry but
Since when does Ratigan have the background and
experience to make up solutions....
Ratigan is a journalist ....No ????
Ratigan could be viewed similarly to Moore....
Selling his "media"....count....
That's all....
The US already has enough unqualified people in office....
Enough already....
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:01
#120078
This is what happens when you de-regulate the markets too much.
Bring back open cry, three hour lunches plus claret and a decent level of commission/collusion and old fashioned insider trading on m&a and GS boys will go back to hanging out in cigar bars all day and fucking off home at six.
Bring back 1985!
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:12
#120091
Only 1 thing is necessary: END THE FED
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:34
#120273
agreed. a simple statement, yet with so profound consequences for the united states and the world.....it cannot be underestimated.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:24
#120108
That stupid Jefferson-era costume ruined his street cred.
And his populist rant, while somewhat sensible does not address the main problem: INCUMBENCY
Until the senior men in control of the committees in Banking and finance and all the other departments are annhilated by the voters or thru insurrection, none of what he proposes is going have a remote chance in hell of ever passing.
WE need to do what is possible and without Barney Frank's constituents getting their heads out of their asses and replacing him, NOW, nothing changes but the debt-meter on its upward ascent into the stratosphere and poverty for more and more millions whose money becomes worth less every day.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 15:25
#120110
Is it me, or is Dylan sporting a Fauxhawk?
Oh, I and he's correct IMHO. The tax change that would help would be one where the current short term cap gains stays where it is, and the tax itself is phased out completely over time. Maybe at 5 years there is no cap gains tax. That wouldn't do any damage to the day trader types and would hugely incentivize long term investments and carefully managed ones as well.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:00
#120143
Dylan has a good list here folks. From my perspective it is missing a little. Rather than saying; "weak", "bull shit" or "great" I will toss out my brief list to get hammered by all so I may have additional fodder for my considerations.
There is more waiting to be discovered or defined. I am not sure how to address the issues surrounding trading vs investing and how to control the rise of the machines and the algos that govern them and their operators. I will, for the moment defer to the ideas that transparency, personal responsibility and the rule of law should most likely be used as a deterrent force. The reason I think Dylan goes to taxes is simply because that is an easier and quicker pathway to follow. However, any system that does not support the primacy of the rule of law as the protection form abuse cannot but fail in a society that purports to sustain individual freedom.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 20:44
#120490
Miles- Great points on the rule of law, selective enforcement, and regulatory capture.
A few of my thoughts:
Transparency: The system has become so corrupted through regulatory and representative capture that politician campaign contributions & portfolio positions should be transparent (along with key regulatory government workers). Also, all ownership positions in the debt or equity of a company above 5% should be public information (all ownership must be able to be drilled into for an ultimate individual not just a trust/company/corporate/sovereign wealth country level).Pierce the corporate veil! In addition to transparency on the 500 trillion of derivatives, they need to be standardized and exchange traded.
The other point is that ownership must be known, must be mutually exclusive per share, and should be published (no multiple votes for the same underlying stok) and that naked shorting without locating shares should be impossible (applied to TBTFs in equities, bonds, and commodities including precious metals) just as infinite longs with no collateral/capital should be illegal. Without these changes the fed and TBTFs can literally make the price of a stock anything they want it to be. Spreadsheets on ownership would point out conflicts of interest and timing issues from insider information.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:18
#120625
We are singing from the same hymnal.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 16:10
#120182
Ratigan´s goal is to collect more eyeballs anyway he can.
Cramer`s goal is to collect more eyeballs anyway he can.
Both are doing it by being loud and abnoxious.
Agreed, Ratigan is not qualified to give solutions.
Barney Frank, Pelosi and the whole lot are not qualifed .
Very very dangerous when handed the loudspeaker.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:02
#120240
Wow such brilliance coming from a guy who used to host "Fast Money" ..Somewhat contradictory with his #3 suggestion!!
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 21:15
#120512
Yup.....but even Bubba Bill Clinton was reformed to live a monogamus lifestyle.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:49
#120298
why why why do people still say that GS needs to be broken up before C and BAC, not to mention WFC??!?!?
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:58
#120310
Whether he is qualified or not does not matter. He speaks the truth for real solutions to our corrupt system. No one on MSM comes close to rattling the establishment like this. It is quite refreshing.
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 19:34
#120429
what's up with Dylan's hair?
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 20:20
#120472
I'm a far left-wing democrat and even I don't think we need more taxes. Just a redisrtibution of where current taxes are going now. Nix #3.
Ratigan rocks.
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:22
#120629
Good to see you post. I look forward to reading more of your work.
All The Best
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 20:44
#120489
He's kinda reminding me of Howard Beale in a Backstreet Boy kinda way....
on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 21:58
#120537
No taxes on investments. short or long term. The gov't already got their slice of the pie. Why should it be government policy to lower the markets by annually taking money out of it?
Extra taxes on short term investments don't work to make investors stay in the market long term. How much more proof does this lunkhead need given our current tax code?
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:19
#120628
We need an electronic transaction tax, instead of all the ridiculous taxes we currently have. Simple, easy, gets rid of the IRS, lobbyists, captures much of the black market transactions...some people will go to barter, but we will still capture more revenue. Oh, it will curb also kill most short term trading... :) www.apttax.com
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:22
#120630
We need an electronic transaction tax, instead of all the ridiculous taxes we currently have. Simple, easy, gets rid of the IRS, lobbyists, captures much of the black market transactions...some people will go to barter, but we will still capture more revenue. Oh, it will curb also kill most short term trading... :) www.apttax.com
on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 00:09
#120620
We need a transaction tax. Eliminates short term trading and lobbyists, and the IRS.
www.apttax.com