Reporting from Washington and New York -
Amid strong signs the deep recession has ended, President Obama traveled to Wall Street on a key anniversary in the long financial crisis to deliver a blunt message — all is not forgotten.
FOR THE RECORD:
Obama speech: An article in Tuesday’s Business section about President Obama’s speech to Wall Street on the need to overhaul financial regulations said Travis Plunkett was legislative director for Consumers Union. Plunkett holds that position at the Consumer Federation of America. —
Concerned that the improving economy could derail passage of a major regulatory overhaul this year, Obama warned the financial industry Monday that although “the storms of the past two years are beginning to break . . . normalcy cannot lead to complacency.”
Complicated securities and reckless investments helped send the economy spiraling downward and spurred a government response that pumped $700 billion in federal funds into rescuing the financial system.
“Those on Wall Street cannot resume taking risks without regard for consequences and expect that, next time, American taxpayers will be there to break their fall,” the president said.
Obama went to historic Federal Hall, across the street from the New York Stock Exchange, on the one-year anniversary of the collapse of investment banking giant Lehman Bros. The subsequent market panic a year ago helped turn the recession that began in late 2007 into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
The president’s 30-minute speech was as much a lecture to Wall …
Read the original article at Latimes
