Updates
The latest news and advocacy information for industrial bankers.
Some Like It Hot: Can A Financial ‘Cancer’ From The 1980s Help Prevent Bank Runs?
As bank failures rattle investors and test regulators, it's time to rethink America’s financial system. One old solution, despised by regulators, might be just what the doctor ordered.
X-date: still on or around June 1
Whatever happens, it won’t be a federal holiday. June 1 is still the date past which Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen may no longer be able to juggle the accounts in order to pay the government’s obligations.
Debt ceiling countdown
A week closer to June 1 — the possible X-date past which the US Treasury will no longer be able to meet its obligations in full — are negotiators closer to a deal to raise the debt ceiling? Maybe.
26 days and counting
Closer to 25, actually, once you get this. That may be all the time Congress has to raise the federal debt limit before the U.S. starts to default on its obligations, according to a letter Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sent to Congressional leadership on Monday.
Remember the debt ceiling?
That thing we hit a couple of months ago, and will blow through for real without Congressional action in the immediate future?
World Bank and IMF’s Spring Meetings
Congress was out of town this week, but the streets of DC were full of limousines and Town Cars carrying participants in the World Bank and IMF’s Spring Meetings.
Don’t you just hate a slow news week?
Several things happened this week that we are unqualified to comment upon, so we’ll just say we are glad Congress is out of town for the next two weeks. We trust nothing newsworthy will happen between now and April 17.
Hey, got six million bucks we can borrow?
A Swiss auction house is accepting bids for a complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, starting at a mere 5,000,000 Swiss francs (just under $5.5 million USD). We probably don’t have room for it in the GrayRobinson DC office, but our building has a great roof terrace.
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone in Washington is Irish or wants to be.
President submits FY 2024 budget
“Is this a joke?” House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) asked Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen at a hearing this morning.
Appropriations deadlines loom while rules change
Things were already a little frantic on Capitol Hill this week, even before House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger announced deadlines for member requests for fiscal year 2024.
House Financial Services schedules first markup
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee will meet in person to mark up fourteen bills, including several bipartisan measures.
The House of Representatives was extremely busy this week
The House of Representatives was extremely busy this week, packing in hearings before a two-week break that begins as we write this. The Senate (traditionally a more deliberative body — just ask them) also held hearings this week, but they’ll be a little busier next week.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it . . . the Wizard?
At this writing, it’s hard to know how seriously to take the Chinese surveillance balloon that’s currently hovering at 60,000 above the center of the continental United States. It is, of course, an unacceptable violation of US airspace, as Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said earlier today. And it’s already caused Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his plans to visit Beijing.
White House calls for “Renters Bill of Rights”
This week the White House announced an array of executive branch actions designed to empower and protect renters, in conjunction with the publication of its Blueprint for a Renter Bill of Rights, a white paper compiled by the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council. While the white paper does not have the force of law, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) simultaneously announced their own initiatives to identify and prevent abuses in the rental housing sector.
Experts expect 'stalemate' on ILC applications
After a year when crypto tanked and regulators have become increasingly skeptical of bank-fintech partnerships, observers say the prospect of new industrial loan company applications being approved is increasingly remote.
Treasury begins “extraordinary measures” to avoid government insolvency
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sent another letter to Congressional leadership yesterday to describe her actions in response to US sovereign debt reaching its statutory limit.
The truth is out there
Some good news from the James Webb Space Telescope this week: they’ve found their first confirmed exoplanet, a mere 41 light-years away from Earth. It’s almost the same size as Earth, but don’t start packing yet. Although this planet’s star is considerably cooler than our sun, it’s a few hundred degrees warmer than Earth, and any atmosphere it has could be 100% carbon dioxide.
Happy New Year
Greetings from the nation’s capital, where the 118th Congress has not yet quite begun.
Not with a bang but a whimper
The 117th Congress continues to push itself — drag itself? — toward the finish line, its original adjournment date (yesterday) left in the freezing rain.