"How Fed Works" cartoon video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe0fGXzKb1o&feature=related 

Robert Reich Facebook post Nov. 23. 2014 

Robert Reich

1 hr · 

On Friday, William C. Dudley, president of the New York Fed, told Senators his examiners were “not like a cop on the beat” but “more like a fire warden.” But the NY Fed is supposed to ensure Wall Street banks obey the law, not put out fires after they break it. The Senators focused their ire on the revolving door between the NY Fed and the banks (a former examiner now with Goldman Sachs recently got confidential information from a former Fed colleague about a pending investigation, for example). But the bigger problem is presidents of the NY Fed, like Dudley, aren't chosen by Congress or even by the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. They're chosen by the 9 directors of the NY Fed, six of whom are elected by the banks they're supposed to oversee. It’s bad enough when foxes are in charge of chicken coops, worse when they’re in charge of foxes.

Wall Street is once again out of control, the biggest banks are bigger than ever, and their campaign contributions are preventing any fundamental reform (the Dodd-Frank act has been watered down to cold soup). We must resurrect Glass-Steagall and break up the big banks. But how do we get this done?

***This is a DISCUSSION not a paper. Please NO plagiarism. ***