NY Fed President Proposes "Paying" Bankers With Long-Term Debt

Dudley proposes paying bankers with long-term debt.

Wall Street should force banks to share the pain of regulatory penalties by docking executives’ pay, a move that would help discourage bad behavior, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said Monday.

If bankers were paid more with long-term debt, it could “better align senior managers’ interests with the long-term safety and soundness of the firm,” he said. Such a change might need to be pushed by regulators, he said, because the banks “may be reluctant to adopt such pay structures on their own for competitive reasons.”

Brief Payment History

• Millennials may be shocked to discover that people used to be paid with gold.
• Roosevelt ended the gold payment system during the Great Depression, illegally confiscating everyone's gold. He should have gone to prison.
• Following personal confiscation, international trade deficits were settled in gold until Nixon put an end to that in 1971.
• After Nixon closed the gold window, people at least got paid in cash.
• People collected interest on debt in US dollars and other currencies.
• Lately, covenant-lite and toggle bond issuance has soared. Toggle bonds "pay" interest with more debt.
• Now, Dudley proposes paying people with debt.

What's the difference anyway?

The dollar is in reality nothing but debt.

Dudley Gems

1. Oh that “Elusive” Inflation! New York Fed President, William Dudley, says 2% inflation target will remain elusive even if price pressures pick up.
2. Confident Dudley Expects Rate Hikes Will Continue, Hurricane Effect to Provide Long Run Benefit: "Hurricanes will boost economic activity over the long run.”
3. NY Fed President Wants Consumers to Tap Home Equity: Didn’t We Try That Before? "People are leaving the wealth generated by rising home prices locked up in their homes."

Dudley will be gone shortly. He is retiring. The lead candidate is John Williams, the current San Francisco Fed President.

Williams has some "clever" ideas of his own. For discussion, please see All Hail the New Fed Triumvirate: Powell, Williams, Clarida.

For discussion of the gold window and faith in central banks, please see Rate Hike Cycles, Gold, and the “Rule of Total Morons”

It is precisely because of central bank foolishness and bubble-blowing episodes that people would be wise to own gold.

Those wanting a return to a gold standard should note that the price of gold cannot be pegged to the dollar. Instead, a dollar should be redeemable as a fixed quantity of gold.