Former FDIC Chairman, William Isaac, gave me permission to post his letter to the House Financial Services Committee on the FASB proposals. 
Click here: [Isaac on FASB Mark to Market]

(Running Out the Clock)

When a subcommittee of the House Banking Committee held hearings on mark to mark accounting, Congressional intent was very clear.

Either the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) make some common- sense changes or Congress would do it through legislation.

Those hearings were held on Thursday, March, 12.  FASB met the following Monday and proposed a couple of reasonable-sounding modifications and a reasonably- short comment period. Their modifications were inadequate, but they would have been modestly helpful had they not applied only to the future.

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Here's an interview I did with Vinny Catalano (President and Global Investment Strategist with Blue Marble Research) on mark to market, the Geithner plan, Keynes' paradox of thrift and the Fed's balance sheet.
[Bob McTeer Financial Crisis Interview]

Yesterday I was on CNBC's Closing Bell with Brian Wesbury to discuss the Treasury's new plan to form public-private partnerships to buy toxic assets from financial institutions. We agreed that reforming mark to market would be just as effective.  See the video clip here: [Bob Mcteer on Mark to Market]

Here is the text of a speech I gave recently to a group of investors in Hong Kong…

It's good to be back in Hong Kong, the poster child for free enterprise and a stable currency. My first visit was to speak at a conference on currency boards, at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

How many Baptists do we have in the audience?

Me neither.

I was raised as a Baptist but I soon learned that being Baptist doesn't keep you from sinning; it just keeps you from enjoying it.

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It may be sooner, or
It may be later
But one thing's for sure
You've got to pay the alligator
                          The Flatlanders

The Bull is in the China shop
Breaking everything in sight.
The Bear is in the garbage dump
Grubbing the last bite.

The Alligator waits his turn
Crouching kind of offish.
Bear meat will have to do
The bull gave at the office.

It's Alan Greenspan's fault
All eagerly agreed.
He pushed rates too low
Calmed our fears and fed our greed.

He shouldn't have let them do it
It's not common sense.
To police your own behavior
And counter-party risk.

His name is tarnished now
Spoken with derision.
Financial markets apparently do need
Adult supervision.

So get a long-handled shovel
For leverage if you need it
The alligator is on the loose
And someone has to feed it.

                                            Bob McTeer

During last Thursday's hearings by the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises on market to market accounting, the most impressive verbal and written testimony for my money was William Isaac's. Bill gave me permission to share his testimony with you here.

Yesterday (Thursday, March 11) I testified on mark to market accounting before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, a Subcommittee of the Committee on Financial Services.

Here is a copy of my testimony.

During the hearing, Representative Spencer Bachus, Ranking Member of the parent Committee recommended my blog post, "My Mark-to-Market Nightmare," to the other subcommittee members and later asked that it be entered into the record. Here is a link to "My Nightmare."

My post last Wednesday announced I would be a guest host on CNBC's Squawk Box. For those who missed it, the CNBC video clip can be found here. The full video (excluding commercials) has been uploaded to the NCPA website and can be accessed here.

On January 22, 2009 I posted a letter from Alan Greenspan on the inappropriateness of mark to market accounting for the commercial bank business model [click here]. I also quoted from a recent report issued by Paul Volcker on the same subject.

For your convenience I'm posting two other pertinent letters on the subject: One by Treasury Secretary Brady, dated March 24, 1992 [here]; and one by William Taylor, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, dated March 2, 1992 [here].

I'm scheduled to be on CNBC's Kudlow Report tonight around 7:20 Eastern; 6:20 Central. We will be discussing Mark to Market. For general information about The Kudlow Report go here.

[In case you missed it, here's the video footage. Click here.]

Here are three interviews I did March 9, 2009 at the World Money Show Orlando. Click on the links to view the clips:

Extreme Measures Are Needed

Evils of Mark to Market

Stimulus Efforts Need Focus

Occasionally during this crisis period I've said things that cause those who know me to question whether I'm becoming a "Big Government Guy." I've been concerned, myself, which I've written about here. I may be like Mae West, who was pure as snow, before she drifted. If so, I haven't drifted far.  Life's small encounters keep dragging me back to my senses.

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I will be guest host on CNBC's Squawk Box Friday morning from 7 to 9 AM Eastern. 

[Video from my March 6, 2009 interview can be found on the CNBC website here.]

I'm finding it hard to think originally about how best to fix the mortgage mess; I keep falling back on the homilies of childhood. My Dad used to say it rained on the just and the unjust alike. I accepted that even though I wasn't always sure if the rain was a good thing helping the unjust or a bad thing hurting the just. Sentiment these days seems to be more negative regarding the first option than the second. Those not standing in line for help themselves seem to feel more strongly about not helping the unworthy than about helping the worthy. The Prodigal Son probably wouldn't be welcomed home these days either.

If we had all followed Shakespeare's caution to "neither a borrower nor a lender be," we wouldn't be in this mess, but then again we probably would be even less prosperous than we are. Presumably, until recently, lending and borrowing helped raise our standard of living; but we carried a good thing too far.

Since this feels like a learning moment, let's go to the source for elaboration: Hamlet, Act 1 scene 3:

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