The Rhetoric of More of the Same
I’m no financial whiz (though I understand the general concept of the shitpile), so I can’t really judge the content of Paulson’s "new" plan to save our economy. But I do have a credential or two in deconstructing rhetoric–and on that level the executive summary is a fascinating document. The summary, after all, is a Bush Treasury plan to stave off any additional regulation in exchange for our recent and ongoing bailout of the financial industry. As such, it’s imperative for the summary to appear to be putting consumers’ interests at the forefront. It’s imperative for the document to downplay the panic which would justify real regulation. And it’s imperative to create the appearance of a reasoned response to a massive bailout while actually calling for diminished regulation.
We’re All Bankers Now
The summary starts by pretending that the primary purpose of the Department of the Treasury is to ensure a competitive (but stable) financial services industry.
The mission of the Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") focuses on promoting economic growth and stability in the United States. Critical to this mission is a sound and competitive financial services industry grounded in robust consumer protection and stable and innovative markets.
Note how this differs from the Treasury’s stated mission–to ensure the overall health of US finances, not just the competitiveness of the financial services industry.
Serve the American people and strengthen national security by managing the U.S. Government’s finances effectively, promoting economic growth and stability, and ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of the U.S. and international financial systems.
The Treasury summary justifies turning a broad mandate for ensuring the overall fiscal health of the economy into this narrow emphasis on financial services this way:
Financial institutions play an essential role in the U.S. economy by providing a means for consumers and businesses to save for the future, to protect and hedge against risks, and to access funding for consumption or organize capital for new investment opportunities. [my emphasis]
So note, even before the summary gets into the guts of its proposed changes, it has jettisoned its concern for "safe, sound, and secure US and international financial systems" in favor of "innovative and stable financial services industry." And it has transformed your average consumer (some might call them taxpayers or even citizens) into actors who "save for the future" or "access funding for consumption." Read more →