It Said That? 7/21/15

From The Wall Street Journal, “Fed Tells Big Banks To Shrink Or Else,” 7/21/15:

Washington—The Federal Reserve sent a message to the largest U.S. financial firms: Staying big is going to cost you.

The Fed’s warning, articulated in a pair of rules it finalized Monday, is among the central bank’s starkest postcrisis regulatory moves pressing Wall Street banks to reconsider their size and appetite for risk.

If the Federal Reserve is wary of large, risky institutions, how about the world’s largest and riskiest institution: the US government? It keeps going deeper in debt, it supports millions of unproductive people, makes it increasingly difficult for the shrinking productive population to produce, and picks foolish and expensive fights around the world. It is directly on the hook for over $18 trillion, has between $100 trillion and $225 trillion of unfunded medical and pension liabilities, and is contingently liability for trillions more.  The government produces nothing, and can issue more debt and get the Fed to buy it. The government has a truly terrifying risk profile.