As of March 4, the move in the Senate is to put a consumer protection divisions inside the Federal Reserve, the same agency which stood by as Citigroup, HSBC, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase got more and more involved in subprime lending.
Why would anyone believe the Fed can or will crack down now? Beyond being lax, the Fed may have the fastest revolving door in Washington. Stephen Friedman, former NY Fed chief, reportedly benefits from the Fed's bail out of AIG. Another former NY Fed head, Corrigan, appears in Europe to defend his new employer Goldman Sachs' shenanigans to help Greece conceal its level of debt from the EU. Why would one consider entrusting consumer protection to this gang?
