Word: fcic
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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Washington commissions and hearings are often yawn-inspiring affairs. But this one, officially called the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), could trigger some fireworks in part because of the severe damage caused by the financial-industry meltdown. What's more, the commission's chair Phil Angelides, a Democrat and former California state treasurer, has already come out swinging against Wall Street, calling the bonuses financial firms are planning to hand out soon for last year "unjustifiably wrong." So it's no real surprise that the first ones to be in the hot seat are the bankers themselves. (See pictures...
Even though the bankers are first up, the FCIC won't stop there in heaping the blame. Congress set up the commission early last year with a mandate to investigate 22 possible things, from mortgage fraud to global savings imbalances, that could have either caused the financial crisis or made it worse. Modeled after the 9/11 commission, the FCIC is much larger than any other panel or watchdog created in wake of the financial crisis. The FCIC has 10 members, including six appointed by Democratic lawmakers and four appointed by Republicans. It has a budget to hire 35 staffers...
Nonetheless some observers say commissions like the FCIC tend to underwhelm. James Madison University political-science professor Glenn Hastedt, who has written about the 9/11 commission, says politicians shouldn't wait for the FCIC to come up with its conclusions before enacting financial reforms. He says the 9/11 commission did little more than reassure the public that the government was aware of terrorism. "What is the main goal here? If it is to educate and reassure, commissions do that very well," says Hastedt. "But don't look to the FCIC for solutions. Commissions don't do that very well...