Citigroup's collapse will signal the end of the crisis.
Perhaps no other institution still standing in the Global Crisis of 2008 deserves to fail more than Citigroup. Their reach extends to 100 countries with assets close to $3 Trillion. It was Citigroup that provided the resources to pass the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that repealed Glass-Steagall in 1999. It was after that act, that Citigroup emerged as the largest financial services institution in the world.
That they took an injunction to stop Wells Fargo from their acquisition of Wachovia is at the moral heart of the 2008 Crisis. I mean, how big is big enough? Can they possibly comprehend the magnitude of the monster they have created. Currently, Citigroup is the largest issuer of credit cards in the world, with 40% of the market. They are also the largest lender of consumer credit, where people pay huge interest for a refrigerator when they are broke and the icecream is melting. They are also hold most of the student loans in the US.
This crisis is largely a spectator sport for Joe Six-Pack and Hockey Mom, but very soon the spotlight will shift and the dust will settle on lower and middle America in the form of super-inflation and the kinds of interest rates experienced in the 80's. An avalanche of personal bankrupsies is inevitable.
When that happens there will be no money left anywhere to bail Citigroup out and nowhere for their board of directors to hide.
That they took an injunction to stop Wells Fargo from their acquisition of Wachovia is at the moral heart of the 2008 Crisis. I mean, how big is big enough? Can they possibly comprehend the magnitude of the monster they have created. Currently, Citigroup is the largest issuer of credit cards in the world, with 40% of the market. They are also the largest lender of consumer credit, where people pay huge interest for a refrigerator when they are broke and the icecream is melting. They are also hold most of the student loans in the US.
This crisis is largely a spectator sport for Joe Six-Pack and Hockey Mom, but very soon the spotlight will shift and the dust will settle on lower and middle America in the form of super-inflation and the kinds of interest rates experienced in the 80's. An avalanche of personal bankrupsies is inevitable.
When that happens there will be no money left anywhere to bail Citigroup out and nowhere for their board of directors to hide.
