Dear President: Tear Down The Wall Between Main Street and Wall Street
Donald Trump’s election tapped into the unease facing many blue collar Americans left behind in today’s economy. David Smick, the author of “The Great Equalizer: How Main Street Capitalism Can Create an Economy for Everyone” offers a look at how policymakers can liberate the entrepreneurial American spirit nationwide.
Smick served as U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp’s chief of staff from 1979 through 1984. His book, which has already been praised by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is being promoted in collaboration with the Jack Kemp Foundation.
“Never one to aim low, David Smick is calling for America to reinvent herself through a new innovative era of ‘mass flourishing,’” Ryan wrote. “And even more impressive, he’s written a game plan on how to do it.” The book, Ryan adds, “is chock full of canny insights and bold ideas; it definitely deserves a close read.”
While working for Kemp, Smick helped implement “supply-side” economics, which helped unleash the prosperity of the 1980s and ‘90s. But Smick attributes President Trump’s populism to the crony capitalism and government efforts to pick winners and losers that has supplanted the Reagan era’s free-market ethos.
“OUR PRESIDENT CAN SHIFT PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE TO POSITIVE GOALS AND ACTIONS”
“Our president can shift people’s expectations about the future to positive goals and actions,” Smick writes. “The choice is between being an ideological place hold or becoming a truly transformational president.”
“In a counterintuitive way,” he continues, “today’s public anger and disillusionment over lack of economic opportunity have produced a rare chance to achieve positive change. The public’s message to their Washington policymakers: We are tired of economic mediocrity at home and terrified of a dangerous world. We crave a healthier more robust economy. We don’t care how you get there. Be creative. Be pragmatic. Try different things.”
“The Great Equalizer” offers a 14-point plan designed to level the playing field by offering regulatory and tax reform that ensures fair competition. Smick wants to correct the “Warren Buffett problem” that a wealthy employer could pay less in taxes than his or her secretary.
He also wants Congress to tackle “regressive regulations” that favor large institutions over small community banks and other businesses. A prime example is the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the financial collapse of 2008. A Harvard study found that while the number of community banks was already declining before the financial crisis, since the second quarter of 2010 — Dodd-Frank’s passage — community banks have lost market share at a rate double what they did between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2010. African-American-owned banks have been especially hard hit.
“GOVERNMENT AND CENTRAL BANK POLICY NOW FAVORS THE BIG, THE CORPORATE, AND THE STATUS QUO AT THE EXPENSE OF THE SMALL, THE YOUNG, THE NEW, THE INVENTIVE, AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL”
“Government and central bank policy now favors the big, the corporate, and the status quo at the expense of the small, the young, the new, the inventive, and the entrepreneurial,” Smick writes. “It favors Wall Street over Main Street. Because the economic system is compromised, people can feel it in their bones that their children’s future is being frittered away.”
In response, Smick envisions “a vibrant Main Street Capitalism of mass business startups and bottom-up innovation, all unfolding on a level playing field.”
Smick goes beyond the hard, quantified econometrics so central to past economic debates into jumpstarting what English economist John Maynard Keynes calls “animal spirits,” or the ability and cultural connective tissue supporting risk taking. Smick argues this is what is lacking across the country, not only in Red States, but also in all low-income areas held back by the current system.
“Americans want their leaders to write a new economic narrative,” Smick writes. “They want to rediscover the thing that has always made them exceptional: their can-do attitude and audacious spirit — their willingness to dream big and to dare big. Average working families are desperate for higher rates of economic growth. But the time to write that new story of American economic dynamism is now. The clock is ticking.” http://opportunitylives.com/dear-president-tear-down-the-wall-between-main-street-and-wall-street/
Smick served as U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp’s chief of staff from 1979 through 1984. His book, which has already been praised by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is being promoted in collaboration with the Jack Kemp Foundation.
“Never one to aim low, David Smick is calling for America to reinvent herself through a new innovative era of ‘mass flourishing,’” Ryan wrote. “And even more impressive, he’s written a game plan on how to do it.” The book, Ryan adds, “is chock full of canny insights and bold ideas; it definitely deserves a close read.”
While working for Kemp, Smick helped implement “supply-side” economics, which helped unleash the prosperity of the 1980s and ‘90s. But Smick attributes President Trump’s populism to the crony capitalism and government efforts to pick winners and losers that has supplanted the Reagan era’s free-market ethos.
“OUR PRESIDENT CAN SHIFT PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE TO POSITIVE GOALS AND ACTIONS”
“Our president can shift people’s expectations about the future to positive goals and actions,” Smick writes. “The choice is between being an ideological place hold or becoming a truly transformational president.”
“In a counterintuitive way,” he continues, “today’s public anger and disillusionment over lack of economic opportunity have produced a rare chance to achieve positive change. The public’s message to their Washington policymakers: We are tired of economic mediocrity at home and terrified of a dangerous world. We crave a healthier more robust economy. We don’t care how you get there. Be creative. Be pragmatic. Try different things.”
“The Great Equalizer” offers a 14-point plan designed to level the playing field by offering regulatory and tax reform that ensures fair competition. Smick wants to correct the “Warren Buffett problem” that a wealthy employer could pay less in taxes than his or her secretary.
He also wants Congress to tackle “regressive regulations” that favor large institutions over small community banks and other businesses. A prime example is the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the wake of the financial collapse of 2008. A Harvard study found that while the number of community banks was already declining before the financial crisis, since the second quarter of 2010 — Dodd-Frank’s passage — community banks have lost market share at a rate double what they did between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2010. African-American-owned banks have been especially hard hit.
“GOVERNMENT AND CENTRAL BANK POLICY NOW FAVORS THE BIG, THE CORPORATE, AND THE STATUS QUO AT THE EXPENSE OF THE SMALL, THE YOUNG, THE NEW, THE INVENTIVE, AND THE ENTREPRENEURIAL”
“Government and central bank policy now favors the big, the corporate, and the status quo at the expense of the small, the young, the new, the inventive, and the entrepreneurial,” Smick writes. “It favors Wall Street over Main Street. Because the economic system is compromised, people can feel it in their bones that their children’s future is being frittered away.”
In response, Smick envisions “a vibrant Main Street Capitalism of mass business startups and bottom-up innovation, all unfolding on a level playing field.”
Smick goes beyond the hard, quantified econometrics so central to past economic debates into jumpstarting what English economist John Maynard Keynes calls “animal spirits,” or the ability and cultural connective tissue supporting risk taking. Smick argues this is what is lacking across the country, not only in Red States, but also in all low-income areas held back by the current system.
“Americans want their leaders to write a new economic narrative,” Smick writes. “They want to rediscover the thing that has always made them exceptional: their can-do attitude and audacious spirit — their willingness to dream big and to dare big. Average working families are desperate for higher rates of economic growth. But the time to write that new story of American economic dynamism is now. The clock is ticking.” http://opportunitylives.com/dear-president-tear-down-the-wall-between-main-street-and-wall-street/
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I would bet my favorite pet dog that you don't have the slightest idea of what this article is about.
XX.... 'Your' president should maybe concentrate on getting his own party in line, stop lying to those suckers who believed and voted for him, and 'man up', and take responsibility for his actions and their results. Trumpcare failed miserably, 17% approval rate.
Oh yeah, your rebuttal will be 'It's Obamas fault'. No response necessary, I answered my own query.
Seems neither of you have much to offer in the context of knowledge, but you have quite a bit of advice. If I didn't know better, I would think we have two gobshites attempting to avoid any constructive debate about the article.
Although no one holds the trophy of successfully giving the smaller businesses the opportunities the larger corporations seem to have, an attempt to make it possible smaller companies can do better is a worthy goal.
Take for example these statistics:
Failed Bank List
The FDIC is often appointed as receiver for failed banks. This page contains useful information for the customers and vendors of these banks. This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership. Failed Financial Institution Contact Search displays point of contact information related to failed banks.
This list includes banks which have failed since October 1,2000. To search for banks that failed prior to those on this page, visit this link: Failures and Assistance Transactions
Take notice there were 17 small bank failures between 2000 and 2010. Since 2010 there have been 533 small bank failures.
So it appears the environment for small businesses, in this case small hometown banks have really suffered over the last 7 years.
Link from FDIC
He's our president. You can't call him "my" president as I didn't vote for him either. The article is one of advice for the president to follow and it is good advice.
Do you even understand why Banks Fail??
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banks are ending the year with their best profits since 2006 and fewer failures than any time since the financial crisis struck in 2008
As the economy heals from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, more people and businesses are taking out — and repaying — loans.
And for the first time since 2009, banks' earnings growth is being driven by higher revenue — a healthy trend. Banks had previously managed to boost earnings by putting aside less money for potential losses.
Signs of the industry's gains:
— Banks are earning more. In the July-September quarter, the industry's earnings reached $37.6 billion, up from $35.3 billion a year earlier. It was the best showing since the July-September quarter of 2006, long before the financial meltdown. By contrast, at the depth of the Great Recession in the last quarter of 2008, the industry lost $32 billion.
— Banks are lending a bit more freely. The value of loans to consumers rose 3.2% in the 12 months ended Sept. 30 compared with the previous 12 months, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Lending fuels consumer spending, which drives roughly 70% of economic activity. At the same time, overall lending remains well below levels considered healthy over the long run.
— Fewer banks are considered at risk of failure. In July through September, the number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem list" fell for a sixth straight quarter. These banks numbered 694 as of Sept. 30 — about 9.6% of all federally insured banks. At its peak in the first quarter of 2011, the number of troubled banks was 888, or 11.7% of all federally insured institutions.
— Bank failures have declined. In 2009, 140 failed. In 2010, more banks failed — 157 — than in any year since the savings and loan crisis of the early 1990s. In 2011, regulators closed 92. This year, the number of failures was 51. That's still more than normal. In a strong economy, an average of only four or five banks close annually. But the sharply reduced pace of closings shows improvement.
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I get your point CM, but the fact still remains it's the big banks who have been bailed out and the smaller banks who have lost the ability to function in smaller communities, basically big government running the small business out of business. The information I gave you came from the FDIC, 17 bank failures from 2000 until 2010 and 533 bank failures from 2010 until today. When you click on the link provided in my comment you can look at each one of them. Of course things are going to either get better or it would have been the end of the USA, but the small town banks suffered and have suffered for the last 7 years with no bailout from the government.
Small bank failures:
2010 - 1
2112 - 188
2013 - 35
2014 - 100
2015 - 62
2016 - 98
2017 - 10
These has to be approximately the number, since I counted them and may not be exactly correct at a total of 494 since the first one in listed in 2010. I can't say my eyes are perfect.
The fact is the reason these smaller home town banks have gone belly up is not their fault, but the fault of over regulation and the large banks who caused the financial crisis in the first place. Now they are doing much better it appears after killing the small banks who provided ...
When regulations – not consumers – drive consolidation, banking system risk increases. Dodd-Frank’s “Wall Street” focus snares community banks in an increasingly complex web of rules designed for larger banks. As such, the law forces well-managed institutions to unnecessarily divert resources to compliance ( survey data shows community banks are doing just that), or worse, to close their doors. Minneapolis Fed research suggests that adding just two members to the compliance department would make a third of the smallest banks unprofitable.
Regulatory-driven consolidation is particularly concerning because as Fed Gov. Daniel Tarullo noted in a 2009 speech, the importance of traditional financial services – like those provided by community banks – “tends to increase” in times of crisis. In a 2015 working paper we found that while these banks accounted for just 22 percent of outstanding bank loans, they also accounted for over three-quarters of agricultural loans and half of small business loans. While “the financial crisis did not originate in smaller banks,” as Tarullo noted, the post-crisis response jeopardizes their critical role in banking system resiliency.
But is consolidation a necessary consequence of achieving "Wall Street Reform"? Absolutely not. In fact, the financial system will certainly be safer when Main Street banks don’t need a Wall Street lawyer in order to exist.
NYT LInk
Everyone doesn't live in sunny California or NYC, but the big banks do and now after their bailout and Wall Street's forgiveness clause, they are doing better without any competition by mostly investing in things other than loaning money to the farmer down the street. Big Government, don't you just love it?
Unless you deal with banks, you probably aren't aware of the extent of the over regulations put upon banks in the last 8 years. Some are necessary and good, but the extent of the government's involvement in banking is enormously over the top. Even the smaller of the larger banks are in jeopardy and afraid of the government's intrusion into their business dealings, afraid the big bad government will find something, just anything to come down on them, whether it's legitimate or not.
SIX: I was responding to DS...
The referenced book seems to raise some good points, and might be interesting. The idea that Trump is capable of turning those who's energy he has tapped, into a positive, goal oriented, transformational mass, is simply absurd. He is qualitatively incapable.
Then we are in for a long four years. They might even be as bad and long as they would have been had Hillary been elected. There was not a thing positive or transformational about that woman or any of her followers or voters.
I can't even begin to tell you the state of despair I would have been in had Hillary won this election. Having said that, I am not completely happy with Pres. Trump right now. I wish I could have a one on one meeting with him.
I knew I wouldn't be greatly pleased by Trump. I also know that I'd have felt even more unhappy if what I'd expected election night actually happened.
Then we are in for a long four years.
His rule will not last that long.
I've read the seed twice, because the title seemed to promise... policy!
I found
“The Great Equalizer” offers a 14-point plan designed to level the playing field by offering regulatory and tax reform that ensures fair competition. Smick wants to correct the “Warren Buffett problem” that a wealthy employer could pay less in taxes than his or her secretary.
and
“Americans want their leaders to write a new economic narrative,” Smick writes. “They want to rediscover the thing that has always made them exceptional: their can-do attitude and audacious spirit — their willingness to dream big and to dare big. Average working families are desperate for higher rates of economic growth. But the time to write that new story of American economic dynamism is now. The clock is ticking.”
But despite reading over and over... I can't find anything more than bumper-sticker slogans in these paragraphs...
I guess you will have to actually read the book being reviewed here. "for Everyone” offers a look at how policymakers can liberate the entrepreneurial American spirit nationwide.
Smick served as U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp’s chief of staff from 1979 through 1984. His book, which has already been praised by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is being promoted in collaboration with the Jack Kemp Foundation.
“Never one to aim low, David Smick is calling for America to reinvent herself through a new innovative era of ‘mass flourishing,’” Ryan wrote. “And even more impressive, he’s written a game plan on how to do it.” The book, Ryan adds, “is chock full of canny insights and bold ideas; it definitely deserves a close read.”
While working for Kemp, Smick helped implement “supply-side” economics, which helped unleash the prosperity of the 1980s and ‘90s. But Smick attributes President Trump’s populism to the crony capitalism and government efforts to pick winners and losers that has supplanted the Reagan era’s free-market ethos.
“OUR PRESIDENT CAN SHIFT PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE TO POSITIVE GOALS AND ACTIONS”
“Our president can shift people’s expectations about the future to positive goals and actions,” Smick writes. “The choice is between being an ideological place hold or becoming a truly transformational president.”
“In a counterintuitive way,” he continues, “today’s public anger and disillusionment over lack of economic opportunity have produced a rare chance to achieve positive change. The public’s message to their Washington policymakers: We are tired of economic mediocrity at home and terrified of a dangerous world. We crave a healthier more robust economy. We don’t care how you get there. Be creative. Be pragmatic. Try different things.”
“The Great Equalizer” offers a 14-point plan designed to level the playing field by offering regulatory and tax reform that ensures fair competition." It seems like a good read to me.
So you've seeded an advertisement for a book?
No. It was a book review. Not a paid advertisement. It( the book) covers policy so perhaps you should check it out.
That's not how it works.
YOU summarize the book. It's your seed.
The seeded article summarized the book. I didn't read it yet. In fact I knew nothing about the book until I read the article which turned out to be a book review from the authors point of view. I can say having read the review I will check it out at our local public library when they get it.
You seeded a review of a book you haven't read??
But despite reading over and over... I can't find anything more than bumper-sticker slogans in these paragraphs...
Exactly!
Would you like a little cheese to go with that whine?
And you still will not summarize the book or the article as Bob challenged you too......