Too Big To Get It.

       I suppose we should be grateful that the Fed and others are proposing stiffer regulations on Too Big To Fail banks. They are suggesting that these behemoths must hold more cash on hand to cover losses in the event of some problem in the future so that they won't need to be bailed out by taxpayers. The problem is that no matter how much cash they hold onto, it will never be enough to fully protect the taxpayer, because the less they can invest, the more they'll need to profit and the riskier investments they'll try.
       Why is it that our government can't see that the whole problem lies not in holding more funds, but in not being too big to fail in the first place. Now holding onto more funds is still a good idea to a point, but it will never supplant the need to break up these banks just like they realized they had to do it after the Great Depression. We did that back then and for half a century things went pretty smoothly.
       Then we foolishly believed these banks when they told us they were all grown up now and could manage to police their own ranks now. Well, it didn't take long for them to prove they were still too immature to handle their own oversight. And do you know what? They never will become mature enough to handle their own affairs. That's because if the candy is there on the table, they will always want it and many will grab for it.
       Ever greater profits is the irresistible candy they will always desire. That's just human nature. And these bankers don't and won't care where that profit comes from or who it hurts. Allowing traditional banking and the investment gamblers to be one in the same, will always challenge the will to work on behalf of the customer.
       WE need to have these two separate and distinct businesses to operate separately and distinctly. Without that separation there will always be the temptation to point the customer in the direction of the best interests of the bank and away from the best interests of the customer. So go ahead and require more cash on hand, but break up the monopolies.