“Paul Volcker” on The Daily Caller

Editor’s Note: Daily Caller High is a group of young writers cutting their teeth in the world of political punditry. This week, the authors’ reflect on events of the past few days. (more)

The White House distanced itself from comments made last week by one of its top economic advisers in support of a new national consumption tax — yet others close to President Obama have similarly spoken in favor of a Value-Added Tax in recent months. (more)

Paul Volcker, current White House adviser and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Carter and Reagan, had some sobering news for U.S. consumers.  At a New York Historical Society event on Tuesday, Volcker said the United States will have to consider a “European-style value-added tax” to address the fiscal crisis facing the federal government. (more)

After months of emphasizing the need to coordinate a global regulatory response to the global financial crisis, the Administration has done an about-face. Instead of working in concert with international partners, the Administration now wants to enact reform unilaterally so as to “set the global agenda.” The supposed first-mover advantage would allow the U.S. to shape “a level playing field on terms that play to our strengths.” In reality, regulatory reform at the national level is unlikely to work because of the size and breadth of the institutions. And rather than stimulate international cooperation, unilateral action is likely to result in regulatory competition that ultimately disadvantages U.S. firms. (more)

In his recent testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said the size and activities of financial institutions should be limited and that financial institutions should be allowed to profit and fail, without any expectation of government support. Volcker’s stance was sobering; current and potential too-big-to-fail (TBTF) policies are corrupting our financial system. (more)

If AIG, the insurance giant bailed out by the U.S. government, had failed a large number of assets such as mortgage-backed securities would have lost their insurance against losses (called credit default swaps) causing their value in the market to fall. (more)

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will call for Congress to “define the business of commercial banks” and set policies to resolve large, complex failing institutions with “euthanasia not a rescue,” according to his remarks prepared for delivery before a Senate panel Tuesday and obtained from a Capitol Hill source. (more)

Citigroup is in talks to sell its private equity, real estate and hedge fund investment arms, which together manage about $20bn of assets, as the bank presses ahead with plans to sell $900bn of non-core assets to repay debt. (more)

U.S. stocks tumbled Thursday amid concerns that a White House plan to restrict the growth of the nation’s largest banks could hurt their profits, sending Wall Street to its biggest one-day loss in three months. (more)

At least for the day, the most powerful man in the U.S. financial industry and for equities markets is 82 years old, a man who ended his leadership of the Federal Reserve more than 20 years ago. (more)