The British have this particular way about “discretion,” or what might in some circles be called discretion. That is to say, they keep their dirt quiet, at least as long as it takes The Sun to dig it up and scream it to the world. At that point they revel in gossiping about the sleaze, comforted in the knowledge that they, themselves, remain blameless in the sleazy and revolting business of trafficking in innuendo and rumor. It’s a symbiotic cultural arrangement, really. The readers can indulge themselves in faux outrage, all the while eating up the slop like it was their first meal in a week, and the Sun is handsomely paid for its willingness to dispense with the pleasantries of English decorum.
The Bank of England, for example, is reluctant to disclose recipients of its emergency largess. The idea is to avoid creating panic. At least in times of uncertainty, the revelation that Bank X accepted funds from the Bank of England, could (in theory) cause a run on the bank.
Apparently, that’s not going to fly in the United States.
Members of Congress, taxpayers and investors urged the Federal Reserve to provide details of almost $2 trillion in emergency loans and the collateral it has accepted to protect against losses.
At least five Republican members of Congress yesterday called for the Fed to disclose which financial institutions are borrowing taxpayer money and what troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral. More than 300 more investors and taxpayers also pressed for more disclosure in e-mails and interviews with Bloomberg News.
Lawmakers, Investors Ask Fed for Lending Disclosure [Bloomberg]
I think Bloomberg wanted those details too using the Freedom of Information Act.
Like we do not already know that AIG, C, MS, BAC, GS, etc. have already used up a big chunk of our money already…..
I love when elected representatives DEMAND information, because upon attaining such information they’re really going to be able to do anything useful with it. ha!
@3. Do something useful? No. But when they see how much Institution X received, or Institution Y, or person Z, and then examine very carefully who got paid what, and where it went…oooohhh, this could get treacherous real fast to players who want to remain anonymous.
People who you never thought were in liquidity trouble, suddenly needed to borrow from the Fed. Hmmm…
It’s your money, you paid for it. -W
Does it matter?
LargessE
“Posted by guest, Nov 13, 2008 3:19PM
LargessE”
Main Entry:
lar·gesse
Variant(s):
also lar·gess
largess \lär-ˈzhes, lär-ˈjes also ˈlär-ˌjes\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English largesse, from Anglo-French, from large
Date:
13th century
1: liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior ; also : something so given2: generosity
(Thanks though).
All of these people involving themselves in the Fed’s business… People who are long the US financial system – including Mr. Henry Paulson – would do well to take note that a little mystery surrounding Fed/Treasury actions can go a long way toward boosting the market.
For example, instead of saying “the TARP isn’t going to buy any troubled assets”, say, “in addition to buying troubled assets, we’ll be driving dump trucks filled with cash down Main Street so all you suckers can buy GM cars and new laptops.”
It’s not lying – you only have to buy 1 CDO – and you leave every hedge fund, banker, and market participant uncertain about when Minime will suddenly wade into the CDO market and flay the shorts.
Five, ten years from now, when all of the Investment Banker bonuses have been safely vested and cashed out, there will be plenty of time to report on what money went where.