In an interview with Maria Bartiromo yesterday on CNBC, TARP Oversight Panel chairperson Elizabeth Warren commented on a wide range of topics from the alleged “profit” the government will receive from the sale of shares of Citigroup, to “pulling the plug” on Fannie and Freddie, to the impending crash of the commercial real estate market.
About the sale of Citi stock, Dave Dryden at Firedoglake has the explanation of why it’s all accounting hocus pocus. The upshot is this–the TARP money Citi received was only a small portion of the total federal commitment.
This message to the TBTF’s made me want to stand up and cheer:
“I don’t care how big you are, if you make serious enough mistakes, then your business can be wiped out. There is no guarantee anymore.”
Are they listening at the White House, the Treasury, and the Fed? One can only hope.
But the most ominous warning was on commercial real estate, calling it a “very serious problem that we’re going to have to resolve over the next 3 years,” Warren added that nearly 3,000 mid-size banks have what she called a “dangerous concentration” in commercial real estate lending. Asked if she saw a “return to normalcy” in 2010, Warren said, “I don’t think so, I don’t see it.” Watch:Vodpod videos no longer available.