Bank of America "absorbs" Merrill. Chase (the "JP" part is a convenient fiction) absorbs Bear.
Understandable. Yet, it looks like the wrong direction.
From today's perspective, how outdated does Glass-Steagall look? Not very. What if Merrill had millions of uninsured depositors, with their lifetime savings at risk?
Other countries, of course, never had Glass-Steagall-like separation. But, from today's perspective, how much of a "competitive disadvantage" is that separation, when owning a full-scale brokerage is a ticket to going out of business overnight, literally...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Bad Marriages
