Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

U2's Bono Says Trump 'Potentially the Worst Idea that Ever Happened to America'
AlterNet | Kali Holloway | 09/21/16

U2 lead singer Bono appeared on "CBS This Morning" to discuss a bunch of topics with co-host Charlie Rose, and inevitably, Donald Trump came up. Bono, who's never shied away from sharing his thoughts on politics suggested that the GOP contender for president, if elected, could devastate the country.

"America is like the best idea the world ever came up with," the vocalist said. "But Donald Trump is potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America. Potentially. Could destroy it." ... Read more

*On "The Daily Show" Trevor Noah Harnesses the Power of Skittles Metaphors Against Trump (09/21/16) [8:01]

*Jimmy Kimmel Live | Lie Witness News - Trump's Tax Returns Edition (09/21/16) [3:32]

The Economists Who Didn't See the Big Crash of 2008 Coming Still Don't Understand What Happened or How to Fix It
AlterNet | Dean Baker / Truthout | 09/20/16

Last week marked the eighth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the huge Wall Street investment bank. This bankruptcy sent financial markets into a panic with the remaining investment banks, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, set to soon topple. The largest commercial banks, like Citigroup and Bank of America, were not far behind on the death watch.

The cascade of collapses was halted when the Fed and Treasury went into full-scale bailout mode. They lent trillions of dollars to failing banks at below market interest rates. They also promised the markets that there would be "no more Lehmans" to use former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's term.

This promise was incredibly valuable in a time of crisis. It meant that investors could lend freely to Goldman and Citigroup without fear that their loans would not be repaid -- they had the Treasury and the Fed standing behind them.

The public has every right to be furious about this set of events eight years ago, as well what has happened subsequently. First, everything about the crisis caught the country's leading economists by surprise. Somehow, the country's leading economists both could not see an $8 trillion housing bubble, nor could they understand how its collapse would seriously damage the economy. This bubble was clearly driving the economy prior to the crash, it is difficult to envision what these economists thought would replace the demand lost when the bubble burst. ... Read more

Trump's Giant Conflict of Interest Just Got Bigger
MotherJones | Russ Choma | 09/21/16

The US government is cracking down on Trump's largest financial backer. What will he do if elected president?

Donald Trump came under fire last week for his financial ties to overseas investors, including controversial financiers and corporations, whose interests might not align with US foreign policy. But if elected president, Trump would face a tremendous conflict of interest regarding the hundreds of millions of dollars he owes Deutsche Bank, which is now in the crosshairs of US regulators.

The US government has charged that the German banking giant misled investors into buying bad mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, and it is demanding that Deutsche Bank pay $14 billion to settle legal claims. The bank is reported to have planned for a settlement of $2 billion to $3 billion, and negotiations between it and the Department of Justice are likely to be contentious and last for months--possibly well into the next administration. Should Trump take the White House, what Deutsche Bank ends up paying for its alleged misdeeds might depend on how tough Trump's Justice Department will be with the bank to which he owes so much money. ... Read more