May 7, 2018–As the US House of Representatives considers the expansion of financial deregulation with the passage of a House version of Senate Bill 2155, two recent media exposes have brought to light the impact of years of unbridled predatory Wall Street practices in the case of Puerto Rico.
NPR and PBS’s Frontline have just aired a series, “Even Before Hurricane Maria Hit, Puerto Rico was in Financial Ruin”, broadcast on April 30 and May 1. (Transcript of one part is here.)
In a related article, Erik Sherman attacks this history of such dangerous speculation in his Forbes piece entitled “Puerto Rico Shows Why Banks Still Need to be Under Dodd-Frank”.
Sherman says at the conclusion of that piece:
“It seems that few have learned anything from the most recent fiscal crash. The banks keep taking ridiculous chances, engineer it so others are left holding the bag, and then push for more freedom to do more deals to make more money, damn the consequences.
The drive for continuous growth has become a social cancer and it’s being encouraged by a massive industry and politicians who support them…”
Tags: Puerto Rico, Wall Street