The Chair of the Federal Reserve Just Fact-Shamed Donald Trump – Vanity Fair
Janet Yellen, who doesnt have time for this amateur-hour presidency.
By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
When it comes to the economy, its becoming uncomfortably apparent that in many cases, self-described incredible businessman Donald Trump either has no idea what hes talking about or hes lying. Last week, we learned that he called erstwhile national security adviser Mike Flynn at 3 A.M. with questions about how the dollar works. Over the weekend, it was National Economic Council director Gary Cohn who had to explain that the administrations big infrastructure plan will actually cost money. Todays revelation comes courtesy of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, whose testimony before Congress might as well have simply been Donald Trump is full of sh*t. Per CNBC:
During testimony before Congress, the central bank leader was asked if businesses have access to capital. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts asked Yellen specifically about remarks from Trump alleging that banks are not lending because of financial reforms adopted after the 2008 financial crisis. Yellen said commercial and industrial lending specifically surged after the crisis, rising 75 percent since 2010, the year Dodd-Frank was passed.
Theyre lending, Yellen said in response to an earlier question from Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat. Their price-to-book ratios are substantially higher than the ratio of banks headquartered in other areas, and they're gaining market share, and they remain quite profitable.
Yellen also told Brown, Lending has expanded overall by the banking system, and also to small businesses, and, in response to a question about how U.S. banks are doing relative to their competitors abroad, she said, U.S. banks are generally considered quite strong relative to their counterparts. They've built up quite a bit of capital, partly as a result of our insistence that they do so.
That insistence, of course, came via Dodd-Frank, which Trump recently knee-capped by way of an executive order. Dodd-Frank, Trump explained on the morning that he signed the order, had imposed onerous requirements on his friends, he said, preventing them from borrowing the money they need for their nice businesses. He knew this, he said, because JPMorgan C.E.O. Jamie Dimon had told him so.
Yellen, you may recall, was subject to claims by Trump during his campaign that she was in cahoots with Barack Obama to create a false stock market to make the president look good. So its certainly conceivable that todays fact-checking exercise wont be well-received.
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Goldman Sachs gently tells 100 investment bankers that maybe investment banking isnt for them
Within the financial services industry, there exists a very small subset of people who would sign up for the crushing hours, abusive colleagues, and often tedious work even if they werent being paid gobs of money. They just love it that much! Everyone else, though, mostly does it for the money. And when that money largely comes from bonuses (as opposed to base pay), having your boss write down a number, slide it across the table, and see that it says zero has got to hurt. Sadly, 100 Goldman Sachs employees know what were talking about. Per Bloomberg:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. didnt pay 2016 bonuses to about 100 bankers who advise on takeovers and underwrite securities offerings, signaling to a bigger crowd of underperformers that theyre probably better off elsewhere, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The move is more draconian than in past years, when many dealmakers who failed to impress their bosses still got something, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing the firms compensation practices. The number of employees denied a bonus in recent weeks is higher than a year ago--eliminating whats typically a major component of their pay.
For bankers and traders at a well-capitalized and profitable firm, getting no bonus is a dreaded scarlet letter--usually a strong hint that theyre no longer wanted and should start hunting for another job. Around the industry, its known as getting blanked, or receiving a goose egg, a bagel, or a doughnut.
In happier news, for everyone else at the firm, the banks stock hit a record high today.
Banks consider slapping a hazard label on the Trump Administration
You know that guy in the White House who is prone to flashes of anger in which he violates decades of diplomatic protocol, lashes out at world leaders (including longtime allies), and crosses 100-foot high ethical lines when it comes to his children and businesses? Oh, and who also wreaks havoc with things like hastily signed executive orders barring thousands of people from entering the country? And whose inner circle, on top of that, may just be collapsing? All that is starting to worry banks just a bit:
U.S. and U.K. banks are considering adding to their risk disclosures or beefing up particular sections in their annual reports due later this month, according to people familiar with the drafting of the documents. Theyd likely cite the incoming new administration as a potential source of heightened uncertainty, but stop short of mentioning Trump by name, they said.
Although banks stand to benefit from higher interest rates and Trumps pledge to relax rules, heightened volatility could affect trading, and a slowdown in global commerce may curtail dealmaking as the president turns his attention to trade policies with China and Mexico. Bank stocks have been on a bull run in recent weeks, but some money managers say investors have ignored emerging political risks.
Credit Suisse looks on the bright side
The Swiss financial services giant reported a fourth-quarter loss of 2.35 billion francs ($2.34 billion) today and said it plans to lighten its load by 6,500 employees by the end of the year. But its super excited about having paid the U.S. government $5.3 billion for an investigation into the bank's sale of toxic mortgage securities during the financial crisis. C.E.O. Tidjane Thiam told Bloomberg TV that the settlement was a game-changer for us [because] it leaves us in a more comfortable position to look today at our capital planning.
Companies now worrying if theyre doing enough for white men
Welcome to Donald Trumps America, wherein white men are apparently getting the short end of the stick in the workplace:
Executives say they are looking critically at how they go about their work, hearing from white men the same way youd hear from a woman or someone whos L.G.B.T., especially if they feel theyre missing out on career development or other workplace opportunities, says Janese Murray, vice president of diversity and inclusion at energy giant Exelon Corp.
Elsewhere!
Trumps Stew of Uncertainties Puts Hedge-Fund Managers on Alert (W.S.J.)
Putins Central Banker Purges 100 Banks a Year in Epic Crackdown (Bloomberg)
Yellen Sees More Rate Hikes Ahead If Economy Stays on Course (Bloomberg)
Could Apple, now valued at over $700 billion, become the worlds first trillion-dollar tech company? (VF Hive)
Andrew Ross Sorkin says Stephen Schwarzmans lavish birthday party cost nowhere near $20 million (it was probably only $10 million) (NYT, NYP)
New office sensors track when you leave your desk (Bloomberg)
Starting this summer, for $600, couples can get married at Taco Bells flagship in Vegas (CNBC)
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The Chair of the Federal Reserve Just Fact-Shamed Donald Trump - Vanity Fair