Daniel Indiviglio
Daniel Indiviglio is a blogger and staff editor for the Atlantic Business Channel, where he provides insight, analysis and opinion on the intersection of business, finance, economics and politics. Some of his specific writing interests include: credit markets, regulation, monetary & fiscal policy, taxes, banking, trade, emerging markets and technology. Prior to joining the Atlantic, he wrote for Forbes. Before journalism, Daniel spent several years as an investment banker and consultant for financial services firms. Before that, he graduated from Cornell where he triple majored in economics, philosophy and physics. He resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
Recently by Daniel Indiviglio
Oct 30 2009, 2:26PM
The Stimulus Saved 650,000 Jobs? I'm Not Impressed.
Any minute now, recovery.gov will have a report that touts 650,000 jobs have been saved or created thus far by February's $787 billion stimulus package. In fact, the White House is already bragging about this on its blog. Am I the only person who's completely unimpressed?
Oct 14 2009, 11:55AM
Geithner's Aides Have Wall Street Ties. So What?
Bloomberg has an article this morning that reads like a hard-hitting investigative journalism piece. It turns out they've uncovered that some of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's aides earned millions of dollars working for Wall Street banks. Bloomberg might also be shocked to learn that former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson actually was the CEO of Wall Street behemoth Goldman Sachs, and consequently surrounded himself with his Wall Street kin as well. The fact that Geithner has drawn some talent from Wall Street is not surprising, newsworthy or even bad.
Oct 5 2009, 5:30PM
Apple Leaves Chamber, Hot Over Climate
A few weeks ago, I noted an article explaining that yet another major firm was leaving the Chamber of Commerce over its climate change policy. That was a company called PNM Resources, notable because it was a utility company. Pacific Gas & Electric left the week before that. Several other notable companies like Nike and Johnson & Johnson have expressed concern. But none of that is quite as notable as today's news: Apple has been the latest departure from the Chamber. That's a pretty high profile firm to leave the largest business lobbyist.
Sep 28 2009, 11:20AM
How About Some Regulation For Washington?
In the midst of attempting to take copious financial regulatory measures, officials in Washington might be forgetting something very key: regulating themselves. The Wall Street Journal today has one of those articles that I really hate to read. It provides a discouraging update to the news that Countrywide -- formerly the largest U.S. mortgage company -- had a special VIP club, in which some public officials enjoyed benefits not provided to average Americans. This serves as the perfect example of why we should be worried about the too cozy relationship between finance and Washington. But it gets worse.
Sep 14 2009, 3:09PM
Obama's Regulation Speech Thin On Too Big To Fail
On the one-year anniversary of the fall of Lehman, the President has decided it might be a good idea to visit New York and chastise Wall Street explain to Wall Street the regulation he believes necessary to avoid another financial crisis. But one area of reform where his speech is disappointing thin is dealing with the too big to fail problem. He has only three talking points that begin to touch on this problem. I'm unconvinced any of them will necessarily solve it.
Sep 1 2009, 12:57PM
Obama Wants Federal Pay Capped
Yesterday, President Obama asked Congress to cap the annual cost-of-living pay increases that federal employees receive at 2%. That's a pretty bold move, considering it would be the lowest increase since 1988, according to USA Today. I'm actually pretty impressed by this move, as it makes sense on many levels.
Aug 14 2009, 1:53PM
Big Banks Should Pay For New Regulation
Bloomberg is reporting that the Obama administration is considering paying for their proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) by imposing new fees on big banks. I'm highly skeptical of a CFPA, but if you are going to have one, this actually sounds like a pretty good idea for how to fund it. Generally, when I find myself agreeing with a government idea, it means I haven't thought about the implications for long enough, so I reserve the right to change my mind on this one. But at this point, this plan seems like a good way to preserve competition.
First, for those unfamiliar with the CFPA, it would exist to protect consumers from financial products or practices that the government deems dangerous. Negative amortization mortgages come to mind. My cynicism stems from the fact that the government cannot necessarily predict what financial products or practices are bad for all consumers. But let's put those doubts aside and think about how such an agency should be paid for.
Jul 20 2009, 1:48PM
Business Lobby Still Hates The Employee Free Choice Act
Late last week, news hit that Democrats were striking the "card check" provision from the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This is the infamous provision which sought to prevent secret ballot in union voting. You might think that businesses would now be willing to compromise to allow passage of a watered-down version of the EFCA. You'd be wrong.
Another portion of the EFCA would allow either party in a first contract dispute to defer to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation after 90 days. That means that the federal government could ultimately decide issues like pay, pensions, health care and working conditions for private sector employees.
Jul 1 2009, 12:59PM
Another Problem With Bailouts -- Political Persuasion
The Washington Post today has the kind of article I hate to read. It explains that Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) may have used his political influence to reverse an FDIC ruling that a local bank should get bailout money. It gets worse: he helped to establish the bank and had most of his personal wealth there.
From the Post:
The bank, Central Pacific Financial, was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks. The firm's losses were depleting its capital reserves. Its primary regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., already had decided that it didn't meet the criteria for receiving a favorable recommendation and had forwarded the application to a council that reviewed marginal cases, according to agency documents.
Two weeks after the inquiry from Inouye's office, Central Pacific announced that the Treasury would inject $135 million.
Jun 30 2009, 4:35PM
New Consumer Financial Protection Agency A Mixed-Bag
The Obama administration unveiled their plan for creating an agency to regulate the financial products offered to consumers. Measures from the government to attempt to protect consumers from products leading to unfair or deceptive lending are not novel. But this agency hopes to take consumer protection a step further by intensifying such efforts and promoting access to financial products as well. I applaud the administration's desire to protect consumers but wonder if its dual purpose will lead to internal conflict.
Let's start with the good. This new agency will implement and enforce new transparency standards for consumer lending. That's important. Even the most brazen of free marketers will have trouble arguing that clarity and simplicity are not valid goals for regulations. If individuals do not have full, clear and accurate information, markets cannot work.
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