I don’t agree with all of Barney Frank’s take on the origins of the financial crisis (he and others under the Bush administration failed to rein in the mortgage underwriting of Fannie and Freddie that played a major role in the excessive leverage behind the financial crisis). I also don’t think that the lengthy Dodd Frank Act that he co-sponsored is sufficient or efficient response to the excessive risk-seeking in the financial sector. A simpler Glass-Steagall-like division breaking up of the large institutions would be far more effective. And I believe that will come in the heat of the next financial panic.
But Barney Frank is an intelligent man with a long career of public service, and I respect many of his efforts. I found the discussion in this far-reaching interview worthwhile.
Barney Frank, former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee discusses his new memoir, “Frank: A Life in Politics From the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage.” Here is a direct video link.
Last week I visited the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama on the 50th anniversary of when the King-led marchers from Selma finally arrived in Montgomery. I was pleased to see that the exhibits included sexual orientation as a key area of present day prejudice and inequality.
“The civil rights movement didn’t begin in 1954 and it certainly didn’t end with Dr. King’s death. It continues through all of us, people of good will, who are committed to the principles of our democracy.”
–SPLC President Richard Cohen, Civil Rights Memorial speech, March 25, 2015
;
