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> Yes, sure, but it's a clear conflict of interest for government official. "Yellen has requested an ethics waiver to hold the meeting, a Treasury spokeswoman

> Yes, sure, but it's a clear conflict of interest for government official. "Yellen has requested an ethics waiver to hold the meeting, a Treasury spokeswoman said, confirming a Reuters report." I don't see it as a clear conflict of interest that needs recusal out the gate. How much is that $700,000 to Yellen? The payments are done. What other speaking engagements has she made and how much did they account for? I remember when Tom Wheeler was put in to lead the FCC, and people were very much against him because of his ties to the industry, but by the time he was done, people had turned around on him. So, here you have a case where someone isn't hiding something, is asking for a waiver, and being up front about this, and you are calling this open corruption. Really? Open corruption? This means they've actively done something wrong, or corrupt, and I don't see that here. Should this be looked at and watched? Sure. Does that mean there is outright "corruption" here? No.

pradn 6y ago
It's open because it's out in the open. It's not corruption as in behind-doors bribery or such, but it is getting there. It's certainly a moral corruption - it's absolutely not conducive to her representing the the people in any democratic fashion.
NoOneNew 6y ago
Maybe not clear cut corruption, but a big conflict of interest. Citadel has a good interest stake in Melvin Capital: https://www.wsj.com/articles/citadel-point72-to-invest-2-75-billion-into-melvin-capital-management-11611604340 https://www.wsj.com/articles/citadel-point72-to-invest-2-75-... Melvin Capital is the hedge fund that's directly hurting from retail investor actions. That's an easy google you can do yourself. Citadel stands to lose quite a bit of money from retail investors now and potential in the future. So them giving a regulatory authority 700k to talk about the issue... is it really hard to imagine which way Yellen is going to lean on this one?
- totalZero 6y ago
  Citadel also pays millions and millions of dollars to Robinhood in order to get first look on its customer orders.
totalZero 6y ago
> How much is that $700,000 to Yellen? What kind of question is this? It's two-thirds of a million dollars. You are treating it like they bought her some chicken nuggets after soccer practice. If that amount is really such a pittance, she should pay it back to Citadel.
- Person5478 6y ago
  seriously. What next, Jeff Bezos can throw around 100 million without being accused of corruption because it's such a % of his overall worth? I can't even think of a way that attitude makes sense.
itronitron 6y ago
Requesting an 'ethics waiver' is a clear indicator that it's not ethical.

pradn 6y ago

It's open because it's out in the open. It's not corruption as in behind-doors bribery or such, but it is getting there. It's certainly a moral corruption - it's absolutely not conducive to her representing the the people in any democratic fashion.

NoOneNew 6y ago

Maybe not clear cut corruption, but a big conflict of interest. Citadel has a good interest stake in Melvin Capital: https://www.wsj.com/articles/citadel-point72-to-invest-2-75-billion-into-melvin-capital-management-11611604340 https://www.wsj.com/articles/citadel-point72-to-invest-2-75-... Melvin Capital is the hedge fund that's directly hurting from retail investor actions. That's an easy google you can do yourself. Citadel stands to lose quite a bit of money from retail investors now and potential in the future. So them giving a regulatory authority 700k to talk about the issue... is it really hard to imagine which way Yellen is going to lean on this one?

totalZero 6y ago
Citadel also pays millions and millions of dollars to Robinhood in order to get first look on its customer orders.

totalZero 6y ago

> How much is that $700,000 to Yellen? What kind of question is this? It's two-thirds of a million dollars. You are treating it like they bought her some chicken nuggets after soccer practice. If that amount is really such a pittance, she should pay it back to Citadel.

Person5478 6y ago
seriously. What next, Jeff Bezos can throw around 100 million without being accused of corruption because it's such a % of his overall worth? I can't even think of a way that attitude makes sense.

itronitron 6y ago

Requesting an 'ethics waiver' is a clear indicator that it's not ethical.