Left-liberal propaganda sheets like the NY Times and ThinkProgress are using the $2 billion loss JP Morgan suffered on a failed hedge to justify doubling down on the Volcker Rule, despite the demonstrable fact that The Volcker Rule is a regulatory nightmare that isn't going to work.
Let's put that $2 billion loss in context. JP Morgan had first-quarter 2012 net income of $5.4 billion on revenues of $27.4 billion. Morgan thus is still in the black so far this year, despite this hit.
The $2 billion figure is a headline-grabber, but it posed no threat to JP Morgan's viability, let alone a systemic threat. Using it to justify more restrictive regulation is thus mere agitprop.
Meanwhile, the US National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.95 billion per day since September 28, 2007. In other words, the federal government is losing twice as much per day as JP Morgan lost in this quarter. Maybe we ought to be regulating the feds not the banks.
