Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
Howard Davies : Wall Street’s new double-act comes up short
Messrs Dodd and Frank may think it’s all over, as the saying goes, but that is far from the case. Just another 2,300 pages of legislation and real progress might be visible, says the director of London School of Economics, and former chairman of the FSA.
Analysis: Financial regulation – a line is drawn
With the US Congress about to approve a set of post-crisis curbs, banks face a costlier future with less freedom than before, write the FT’s Francesco Guerrera, Tom Braithwaite and Justin Baer.
News analysis: Talf retires as saviour of securitisation
The Federal Reserve last year said attempts to revitalise the securitisation markets would depend on the success of its ambitious programme to tackle the dysfunctional market for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), writes the FT’s Aline van Duyne. The programme in question – the term asset-backed securities loan facility (Talf) – this week quietly came to an end after 15 months of service.
Editorial comment: The ECB begins to make for the exit
Even the longest march starts with a single step, says the FT. The European Central Bank has started to withdraw some of the emergency support it provided to eurozone banks during the crisis. While vigilance is needed to ensure that this process does not precipitate another upset, it is to be welcomed.
Management: It pays to expect the unexpected
Ever since the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico in April, crisis management experts have surfaced to promote their cause, explaining how better communications could have minimised the brand damage that accompanied the environmental disaster.
Book review: Chasing Goldman Sachs
This book, its author Suzanne McGee explains from the outset, is an attempt to analyse how the recent financial crisis was able to happen – rather than an account of what happened, like many other books that have emerged in the past couple of years. Does she succeed? Only partly, says the FT’s Patrick Jenkins.
Westminster: Lord Browne, former head of BP, to join coalition government
I’m told this announcement has been in the pipeline (ahem) for over a month, writes Jim Pickard. Could it have anything to do with the fact that hiring the former chief executive of BP as a government adviser could be unpopular – given the environmental disaster befalling the Gulf of Mexico?
Money Supply: Two nasty UK monetary policy challenges
Adam Posen has just finished speaking at the Society of Business Economists’ annual conference. He repeated regularly he was speaking for himself not the Bank of England or the Monetary Policy Committee. And his remarks were a breath of fresh air because he didn’t duck difficult issues nor assume them away. Two things stood out, says the FT’s Chris Giles.