Theme: Banks

The economy teetered on the brink but did not fall into the abyss. The bailouts, the stimulus, and adequate international political comity —each imperfect, even ugly—nevertheless prevented what was otherwise very likely: another Great Depression.Read more

The Epicurean Dealmaker is right: Wall Street bankers create some economic value. But do they create enough of it to justify the rewards they reap? In the first nine months of 2010, the big six banks cleared more than thirty-five billion dollars in profits. “The cataclysmic events took place in the fall of 2008 and the early months of 2009,” Roger Altman, the chairman of Evercore, said to me. “In this industry, that’s a long time ago.”Read more