Should The U.S. Break Up The Big Banks?

Douglas Elliott (left) and Paul Saltzman argue against the motion
"Break Up The Big Banks" Samuel LaHoz/Intelligence Squared U.S.

In 2008, the U.S. Treasury committed 245 billion in taxpayer dollars to stabilize America’s banking institutions. Banks that were once “too big to fail” have only grown bigger. Was size and complexity at the root of the financial crisis, or do calls to break up the big banks ignore real benefits that only economies of scale can pass on to customers and investors? The debaters are Richard Fisher, Simon Johnson, Douglas Elliott, and Paul Saltzman.

Richard Fisher (left) and Simon Johnson argue in favor of breaking up big banks,
as moderator John Donvan looks on. Samuel LaHoz/Intelligence Squared U.S.

Before the debate, the audience at New York City's Kaufman Center voted 37 percent in favor of the motion and 19 percent against. Forty-four percent were undecided. After the debate, 49 percent supported breaking up big banks which is an increase of 12 percentage points and 39 percent opposed which is an increase of 20 points. That made the side arguing against breaking up the banks the winners of the debate.
Source: intelligence2 Debates: Should The U.S. Break Up Big Banks?

Obama’s Climate Plan

President Obama has a plan to reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and to expand the use of renewables and natural gas. Steve Curwood gets reactions from David Hawkins Director of Climate Programs at NRDC, Sierra Club’s executive director Michael Brune, and student activist Jess Grady-Benson.
Source: living on earth: Obama’s Grand Climate Plan

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