UNIT ONE
Glass Steagall Act 1933 – 1973
Prohibits commercial banks from engaging in the investment business
Enacted as an emergency response to the failure of nearly 5,000 banks during the Great Depression
Passed by Congress in 1933
Originally part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program and became permanent in 1945
Attempts to stop banks from making bad investments
CDO’s: Collateralization Debt Obligations
Pooled assets (such as mortgages, bonds and loans) are essentially debt obligations that serve as collateral
Involves the pooling of debt to reduce risk and raise returns
Widely blamed for the 2008 financial crisis
Synthetic/fake CDO’s were created, which were not actually based on any mortgage or debt
Some mortgages are good and some are bad
Credit Default Swaps
Banks betting against themselves, that they would crash
When people leading the country do this and act moral it leads to financial crisis
Toussant L’Ouverture
Led a massive slave revolt in Haiti (end of 1700s)
Announced on January 1, 1804 that Haiti would be a true democracy (including a constitution, president, cabinet, etc) This caused other countries to stop trade with Haiti, and the beginning of their massive debt.
Charles the 10th
Lead American navy in brigade to surround Haiti, lasting 25 years.
1/3rd of the Haitians starved to death as a result of the brigade
Chose to be moral
Ordered Haitians to pay 100 million Francs
Duvalier: Papa Doc Duvalier and Baby Doc Duvalier
Dictators in Haiti
West put them in power
As a result, no taxes were collected for infrastructure
Devalued their money for more profit and financial aid (approx. 1.5 Billion in financial aid)
Capital Flight out financial aid that Haiti would receive
Took Haitians til 1947 to pay back debt of francs (for global trade)
Capital Flight
When investors move their securities out of a particular country because of a fear of country-specific risks or