Big Banks Rake in Tens of Billions, Thanks to Trump’s Tax Cuts

JON QUEALLY / Common Dreams Feb 22, 2019 Critics predicted the 2017 legislation would reward major corporations and the rich. New data indicates that they were right on the money. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

California Dreaming: Cannabis Cash, Public Banks—and the State’s Own Mini-Fed?

Ellen Brown / Truthdig Jul 3, 2018 Los Angeles voters and California legislators exploring the public bank option may be breaking not just from Wall Street but from the Federal Reserve. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Is the Fed Preparing to Asset-Strip Local Governments?

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Sep 11, 2014 The Federal Reserve just eliminated municipal bonds from its list of high-quality liquid collateral assets. Banks are liable to start dumping them in favor of Treasuries and corporate bonds. The cost of credit will increase for municipal governments and decrease for corporate and financial institutions, and power and financial resources will be further shifted from the public sector to the private sector. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

The Global Banking Game Is Rigged, and the FDIC Is Suing

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Apr 13, 2014 Taxpayers are paying billions of dollars for a swindle pulled off by the world’s biggest banks, using a form of derivative called interest-rate swaps. And the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has now joined a chorus of litigants suing over it. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Can the FDIC Protect Your Money From Another Crash?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 31, 2013 The first of a planned three-part series on the dangers of private banking highlights government documents describing plans to confiscate the deposits of individuals as well as cities, universities, counties and pension funds when another banking crash occurs. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Bail-Out Is Out, Bail-In Is In

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Apr 30, 2013 The new rules for keeping the too-big-to-fail banks alive allow for the use of creditor funds, including uninsured deposits, to recapitalize failing banks. In the event of another crisis, access to your money would depend on the security of the FDIC. The question, then, is how reliable is the FDIC? Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Winner Takes All: The Super Priority Status of Derivatives

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Apr 10, 2013 With taxpayer bailouts no longer an option, a major derivatives crisis could transfer money currently held by state and local governments and citizens -- secured and unsecured, insured and uninsured -- into the hands of derivative claimants. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

The Confiscation Scheme Planned for U.S. and U.K. Depositors

By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Mar 28, 2013 Confiscating customer deposits in Cyprus banks was not a one-off, desperate idea of a few eurozone “troika” officials scrambling to salvage their balance sheets. A joint paper by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Bank of England, dated Dec. 10, 2012, shows these plans have been long in the making. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Elizabeth Warren

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 17, 2013 At a Senate hearing Thursday, Elizabeth Warren exposed and shamed regulators for failing to prosecute banks that played a leading role in the financial crisis. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Sheila Bair

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 14, 2012 Few voices in the regulatory community called for the expulsion of derelict executives and the means to force banks to lend bailout money to the public amid the 2008 financial crisis. Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair was among them.Few voices in the regulatory community called for the expulsion of derelict executives and the means to force banks to lend bailout money to the public. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

‘Left, Right & Center’: Jobs, Taxes and Debatable Behavior

Staff / Truthdig Oct 6, 2012 The presidential campaign got a jolt this week with an uplifting jobs report and a big debate win for Mitt Romney. The falling unemployment numbers released Friday have skeptics wondering whether unemployment could have dropped 0.3 percentage points last month, just in time for President Obama's campaign to tout it. The "Left, Right & Center" panelists dissect the implications of these matters and more on this week's program. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Top WaMu Leaders Escape Serious Punishment

Staff / Truthdig Dec 20, 2011 The FDIC has reached a deal with three of the executives who presided over Washington Mutual's collapse. The $64.7 million settlement amounts to substantially less than the chief executive alone was paid in the years before his bank set a record for failure. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )