Simon Johnson, author of the book I am working through, “13 Bankers,” writes that he is disappointed that “after nine months of hard fighting,” an amendment proposed by Senators Jeff Merkley and Carl Levin was defeated in the Senate — without even being brought to a vote. The Merkley – Levin amendment, “would have forced big banks to get rid of their speculative proprietary trading activities.”
Johnson says that Merkley-Levin had gained momentum and, “the big banks were forced into overdrive to stop it.”
Johnson says that one good outcome of the Senate failure is that the issue for many people is now clarified. He writes, “Everyone who wants to rein in the largest banks now has a much clearer idea of what to push for, what to campaign on, and for what purpose to raise money. “
- The Volcker Rule, as specifically proposed in the Merkley-Levin amendment
- Constraints on the size and leverage of our largest banks, as proposed by the Brown-Kaufman amendment
