Too-big-to-fail advertisement of the day
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Here’s a full-page ad I just found in the WSJ; it seems that Bank of America considers $760 billion in lending to be “a good start”. Me, I consider it to be “too big to fail” and a clear sign that BofA needs to get smaller, not bigger. I do wonder: is there any point at which BofA would consider itself to be too big? Judging by this ad, it seems the answer is no.
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Or maybe it’s to be read like the punchline to “What do you call a thousand dead lawyers at the bottom of the sea?”
Even if $760 billion does not represent too much consolidated private power in terms of the viability of the market, consider its power vis a vis the US Government. See, for example, the loopholes in the House Fin Reform bill: http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/12/10 /depending-on-the-bankers-to-write-regu lations-a-conflict-of-interest-involving -complexity-and-expertise/
Also, don’t forget Goldman Sachs…workin it: http://euandus3.wordpress.com/2009/11/12 /goldman-sachs-and-aig/
To a bank, a loan is an asset, and companies that have lots of assets are good. Of course, only time will tell if this is like a company in 1900 bragging that it had invested millions of dollars to build state-of-the-art facilities in 20 states and three foreign countries – for the manufacture of buggy whips.