Key to the future of business is in a lobbyist’s pocket

July 4th, 2009 at 05:24pm Annette LaCross

It was starting to look like a glum graduation for students of the country’s business schools.

Millions of people are crowding unemployment offices. Companies across the globe are trying desperately to survive. Wall Street is in a shambles. Besides, what’s the fun of being based at Capitalism Central if Uncle Sam is the one telling you what your take-home pay is going to be?

But take heart, Young Capitalists. I have identified three can’t-miss areas of growth, even in an economy whose glory days are long gone.

First, think bankruptcy. Plenty of companies and individuals have fallen victim to their addiction to debt. But there are plenty more to come. And you can get in on the ground floor of the first boom trend in this New Economy.

That means you should bone up on mergers. M&A activity tends to accelerate the longer recessions linger. And for some experts, the more companies that declare bankruptcy and sell off their parts, or those that want to divest of ancillary divisions to focus on their “core competencies,” spur hopes of imminent recovery — the final shakeout of Darwinian theory.

But the real opportunity is not in the boardrooms of Corporate America. It’s in the shadowy halls of Capitol Hill.

You need to become a lobbyist. Just think of the possibilities.

The Obama administration has been nothing if not busy, dreaming up new regulations to pin on financial institutions of every stripe. And every agency, from the Federal Reserve to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has been piling on as well, not wanting to be left out of the history books.

That means the financial industry is going to need people to get to work immediately to repeal the regulations they don’t like — in other words, all of them.

It means long-term security as well. It took nearly seven decades for Wall Street’s lobby to convince Congress to unwind the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which gave the Fed tighter control of banks, prohibited banks from selling securities and created the FDIC, among other things.

It also has enormous potential for growth. It took Wall Street less than one decade to unwind the entire global economy.

Ironic, that.

In 1999, the repeal of Glass-Steagall was hailed as a triumph over a Depression-era relic.

“Today, Congress voted to update the rules that have governed financial services since the Great Depression and replace them with a system for the 21st century,” said then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, now President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser and the leading candidate for the job of Federal Reserve chairman. “This historic legislation will better enable American companies to compete in the new economy.”

Well, you heard it there first. Welcome to the 21st century.

Contact Business Editor Annette LaCross at alacross@rrstar.com or 815-987-1295.

Entry Filed under: reform, lobbyist, recession