U.S. banks that spent more money on lobbying, were politically connected with the Fed, or had close ties with Pols, were more likely to get government bailout money.
That stunner is according to a new study released this week by two professors at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.
Like the man says....."Doh!"
eh. Yeah. But the U.S. banks that spend the most money on lobbying efforts are also the largest banks in the U.S. too. They were the banks that posed the most systemic risk to the system which is why they received the biggest pieces of Uncle Sam's pie last year. I'm not saying it's right, but I do think these banks were going to get the largest chunk of bailout money regardless of their lobbying efforts (and they should have unfortunately).
ReplyDeleteBesides, the Feds. and the fat cat bankers on Wall Street are all buddies anyways. They've worked with each other or against each other for years. Does Ritholtz really think that the lobbyists have the most sway here? Hank Paulson was the CEO of Goldman for crying out loud. What the hell is a lobbyist going to tell him to do that he isn't going to do anyway?
Regardless, Citi should have been put down. SOMEBODY would have stepped up and bought various pieces of that fetid pie.
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