Friday, April 17, 2009

To whom much is given...

Take a look at these headlines:

On Thursday, JPMorgan Chase became the latest bank, after Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, to announce blockbuster profits in the first quarter. The reports fed a rally in financial stocks that began more than five weeks ago, when Citigroup and Bank of America, two of the banks hit hardest by the crisis, suggested the worst might already be over.

Banks are enjoying a fresh wave of profits from the government’s efforts to nurse the industry back to life

Privately, the lenders contend that the government offer was unfair.

"Ironically, politicians are accusing us of not wanting to lend more," said a source at one of Chrysler's creditors, referring to criticism that the reluctance of financial firms to make loans has stalled the economy. "But what's the incentive to provide loans if the government can come in at any time and trump you?"

Don't know about you, but I can come up with about $700 billion incentives...

Rep. Gary Peters put it quite nicely:

"These are banks that have received substantial investments from the government," said Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), whose district includes Chrysler headquarters. "We hope they will understand that what was given to them was not for their benefit, but to get the economy moving again and maintain American jobs. People are angry that again it seems like the banks are standing in the way."

Learn how Progress Michigan and FireDogLake have teamed up to remind JPMorgan/Chase of that old saying, "To whom much is given, much is expected."  

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