BailoutWatch.net continues to track the latest news, events, federal reports, and other useful resources related to the federal bailout. This entry, our second "Project Update," highlights some of the work of our Bailout Watch project partners. While the majority of the work reported in the Update is posted on this site as it is released to the public, the "Project Update" makes it easy to keep up with what organizations are doing to to research, investigate, and analyze the federal government's actions during the bailout.  "Project Updates" are posted once every two months.

BailoutWatch.net is maintained by OpenTheGovernment.org.

Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

EPI continues to plan and host monthly forums on bailout-related issues as part of it's Bailout Analysis Project. The first forum, held on June 10, explored the bailout’s impact on the nation’s 8,000 community banks. (See the video here). During the second forum, held on July 15, panelists examined the Federal Reserve, its history of secrecy, and its expanded role in the financial crisis. (See the video of Senator Sander's key note address here).

Dates and details about future Bailout Analysis Project forums will be posted on the BailoutWatch.net Calendar as they are announced.

Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

CEPR has continued to produce opinion pieces and analyses of the bailout, with a special focus on the Federal Reserve.  Highlights from June include:

• The Washington Post's "The Hearing" blog featured a guest post from Dean Baker, Making Financial Regulation Work: A Systemic Risk Regulator. 

• The Guardian posted Dean's commentary, New rules aren't enough, which pointed out that the Obama administration's financial reforms won't prevent future economic crises if regulators remain asleep on the job.

July highlights include:

• Dean's analysis of proposals for a special commission to investigate the causes of the economic crisis, Pecora Commission II: Super-Sleuths or Keystone Cops?, appeared on the Campaign for America's Future's blog.

• Dean was a panelist at EPI's forum, Transparency in the Federal Reserve.

• CEPR published a report, The Alphabet Soup Explained: An Analysis of the Special Lending Facilities at the Federal Reserve, which looks at the trends in activity at the Federal Reserve’s newly-created special lending facilities, hoping to provide a better understanding of their operation and significance within financial markets.

• CEPR also released A Short History of Financial Deregulation in the US, a timeline of the major regulatory changes over the last three decades that created the context in which the financial crisis occurred.

In his blog, Beat the Press,  Dean continues to critique the media's coverage of the bailout, such as his recent response to a Washington Post op-ed, The Post Argues That Fed Transparency Bill Would Eliminate the Trade Deficit.

OMB Watch

OMB Watch continues to monitor news sources, Congress, the Treasury Department, and other bailout-related sources for the latest information on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  As part of this monitoring, OMB Watch has been tracking legislation related to TARP and larger bailout efforts from Congress and compiling the information into a publicly-accessible spreadsheet.  OMB Watch has also written about TARP on its blog and in its bi-weekly newsletter, The Watcher.

OMB Watch has also signed on to a letter urging Congress to pass HR 1207, or the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.  The bill would require the Government Accountability Office to fully audit the Federal Reserve Bank before 2010.

Project on Governmnt Oversight (POGO)

POGO has continued to draw attention to the issues raised inthe organization's recent letter on the potential conflicts of interest involving BlackRock and other asset managers that are being hired to run bailout programs for the Fed and Treasury. We raised our concerns with staffers from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), as well as congressional staffers and financial reporters. Our concerns about conflicts of interest were brought up repeatedly during a recent hearing with Special IG Neil Barofsky before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian presented their bailout oversight work to a panel on “Silent Warnings: Mainstream Media and the Financial Crisis.” She discussed some of the ongoing issues with the mainstream financial media’s coverage of the financial crisis, and explained how groups like POGO can play a vital role by conducting bailout investigations that the mainstream financial press can’t or won’t pursue.

In addition, POGO has joined a growing coalition of groups, including Bailout Watch partners, in support of legislation that would allow the GAO to audit the Federal Reserve.

POGO also has continued to blog on a wide range of bailout-related issues, including the stalled Legacy Loans Program, a dispute between Treasury and the SIGTARP, potential conflicts of interest involving PIMCO, the revolving door between Treasury and the financial sector, the announcement of nine asset managers for the Public Private Investment Program, and a new report and testimony from the SIGTARP.

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS)

TCS continues to comb through disclosure reports to compile detailed biographies of bailed-out banks. The bank biographies offer a wealth of detailed information on the institutions helped by the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and are an invaluable resource for journalists, researchers, and citizens.