text:
Due to a bug in WordPress core, archive taxonomy queries are not being ranked properly on the front end. If your posts are not being ranked on your front-end site please read this thread for more information.
v2.3 is now multi-post taxonomy enabled. A taxonomy registered with multiple post types can has its term's posts in each type ranked manually and separately.
UPGRADE NOTE if you are upgrading from v1.x, your old ranking data remains unaffected in the custom table used by the v1.x plugin. However, in v2.x all the ranking is now stored as post meta. While upgrading, some users have complained of missing posts/lost rankings. If this is the case, you can reset your order for given term using the reset checkbox/button provided in the admin page (see screenshot #4). It will reload the ranking from the v1.x custom table. Please read FAQ #17 for more information on how to migrate your data.
If your term was not sorted in the v1.x table or you are upgrading from v2.0.x or v2.1.x, then the reset button will reload the post order as per the default WP post table listing, which can be changed using the filtrs provided (see FAQ #7).
ReOrder Post Within Categories is used to sort posts (and custom post type) in any custom order by drag & drop interface.
It works with a selected category, each category can have different order of same post.
New enhanced version 2.0 with grid-layout and multi-drag interface to ease sorting of large list of posts. Makes use of SortableJS plugin. If you are using this plugin for a commercial website, please consider making a donation to the authors of the SortableJS plugin to continue its development.
Thanks to
Nikita Spivak for the Russian translation.
Tor-Bjorn Fjellner for the swedish translation and i18n clean-up.
alekseo for support for the plugin.
Andrei Negrea for post delete bug fix.
maddogprod for helping resolve custom taxonomy front-end ordering.
menard1965 for helping resolve get_adjacent_post
prev/next ranked posts.
alexjamesbishop for helping fix the 'orderby' bug.
pondermatic for fixing the min-range bug.
andreicnegrea for fixing the offset warnings.
isinica for fixing the disappearing ranked post when editing them.
sarahjsouris from playimports.com.au for sponsoring WooCommerce plugin upgrade.
howdy_mcgee – helping fix array orderby directives for WooCommerce.
pavelkovar – helping fix html escaping issues on admin pages.
- Upload the 'reorder-posts-within-categories' folder to the '/wp-content/plugins/' directory
- Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
- Go to the settings page to activate sorting for each categories you choose.
Preguntas frecuentes
1.Retrieving ordered posts with custom get_posts query not working!
this plugin uses filters (posts_join, posts_where, and posts_orderby) to modify the front-end query for ordered posts and ensure the results are ordered as per your custom order.
function uses a 'suppress_filters' parameter which is set to true by default. You need to explicitly set it to false in your custom queries to ensure you retrieve yours posts in the right order. -
By default the plugin allows you to order posts only within hierarchical taxonomies (categories). This is done as a means to ensure one doesn't have spurious orders as allowing both tags and category ordering could lead to users trying to order a post in both and this would create issues which have not been tested by this author. Hence tread with caution if you enable this in your functions.php file,
add_filter('reorder_post_within_categories_and_tags', '__return__true');
Keep in mind that you will now see
as a post type to re-order, selecting such post types which do not have any categories associated with it. -
3.I want limit/enable roles that can re-order posts
Since v1.3.0 a new filter has been added that allows you to do that. Make sure you return a valid capability,
add_filter('reorder_post_within_categories_capability', 'enable_editors', 10,2); function enable_editors($capability, $post_type){ //you can filter based on the post type if('my-users-posts' == $post_type){ $capability = 'publish_posts'; //Author role. } return $capability; }
if an unknown capability is returned, the plugin will default back to 'manage_categories' which is an administrator's capability.
4.I am uninstalling this plugin, how do I removed the custom table data ?
You can now flag the custom sql table to be deleted when you disable the plugin from your dashboard with the following filter,
add_filter('reorder_post_within_categories_delete_custom_table', '__return__true')
note that this filter is fired when you disable the plugin in the dashboard. So make sure it is activated when you set this filter. -
5.Can newly published posts be ranked first rather than last?
Yes, as of v2.0 newly published posts can be ranked first instead of last by default using the following filter,
add-filter('reorder_post_within_categories_new_post_first', 'rank_new_posts', 10, 3); function rank_new_posts($is_first, $post, $term_id){ $is_first = true; //you can filter by taxonomy term, or other post parameters. //WP_Post $post object being ranked; //$term_id for which the post is rank is being inserted. return $is_first; }
NOTE: the post-type must already have a manual ranking for that category term for this hook to fire. TO ensure this, go to the post ReOrder admin page, select the category term and manually order a couple of post, this is enough to ensure this hook fires. Even if you have the manual ranking radio-toggle to 'No', this hook will still fire.
6. Is it possible to customise the text on the sortable cards?
Yes. On v2+ of this plugin, the sortable cards are now displaying the thumbnail of each posts along with the title. The title text can be changed or added to in case you require additional meta fields to be displayed to help you manually rank your posts. To achieve this, hook the following filter,
add_filter ('reorder_posts_within_category_card_text', 'custom_card_text', 10,3 ); function custom_card_text($text, $post,$term_id){ //the $text is set to the title fo the post by default. //$post is the WP_Post object. //$term_id is the taxonomy term being sorted. $text = '
'.$text.'

'.get_post_meta($post->ID, 'custom-field', true).'
'; return $text; }
7. The initial order of post is chronological, can it be changed?
Yes, by default the first time you manually sort your posts, they will be presented in the same order as your post table, namely by post data. There are 3 possible alternative default order you can set,
1.reverse chronological by hooking this filter,add_filter('reorder_posts_within_category_initial_order', 'reverse_order', 10, 3); function reverse_order($reverse, $post_type, $term_id){ //$reverse is a boolean flag. //$post_type for the current posts being ranked. //$term_id of the taxonomy term for which the posts are being ranked. return true; }
by alphabetical title order, using the following hook,
add_filter('reorder_posts_within_category_initial_orderby', 'chronological_or_alphabetical_order', 10, 3);
function chronological_or_alphabetical_order($is_alpha, $post_type, $term_id){
//$is_alpha is a boolean flag set to false by default.
//$post_type for the current posts being ranked.
//$term_id of the taxonomy term for which the posts are being ranked.
return true;
} -
or by reverse alphabetical title order, using both of the above hooks,
add_filter('reorder_posts_within_category_initial_order', 'reverse_order', 10, 3);
function reverse_order($reverse, $post_type, $term_id){
//$reverse is a boolean flag.
//$post_type for the current posts being ranked.
//$term_id of the taxonomy term for which the posts are being ranked.
return true;
add_filter('reorder_posts_within_category_initial_orderby', 'chronological_or_alphabetical_order', 10, 3);
function chronological_or_alphabetical_order($is_alpha, $post_type, $term_id){
//$is_alpha is a boolean flag set to false by default.
//$post_type for the current posts being ranked.
//$term_id of the taxonomy term for which the posts are being ranked.
return true;
as of v2.4 it is now possible to programmatically rank the intial post order, see FAQ 11.
8. When I drag the slider, both sliders move and the number of loaded posts remain fixed.
When you have a large number of posts in a category, the controls move when the limit of posts to display is reached.
This to reduce the load on the server. WP limits REST api posts to 100, and this is the base value used. However, the plugin uses a dynamic approach, based on a square grid, hence when your posts grid number of columns equates the number of rows, the slider will automatically adjust the non-dragged slider button to maintain that square.
If you wish to display more posts, reduce your window zoom level (ctrl+mouse scroll on firefox/chrome), this will force the number of columns to expand and therefore the js script will allow more posts to be loaded until the rows match the columns.
9. Multi-post taxonomy query not ranked
When you have a custom query to display a set of posts on the front-end which combines multiple post-types under a single taxonomy term, then the plugin needs to be told which post-type to use to rank the results. It will fire a filter which you need to hook,
apply_filters('reorderpwc_filter_multiple_post_type', 'ranking_post_type',10,2); function ranking_post_type($type, $wp_query){ //use WP_Query object to figure is this is your query, //then return the post-type the to use to rank the results. //if no type is returned the posts will be ranked by date. return $type; }
10. My posts are not being ranked properly on the front-end
There are several reasons why this might happen,
1. You are using a custom query get_posts()…
If you are displaying your posts using a custom query with the function get_posts() you should be aware that it sets the attribute 'suppress_filters' to true by default (see the codex page). The ranked order is applied using filters on the query, hence you need to explictly set this attribute tofalse
to get your results ranked properly.2. Your theme or custom query explictly set the 'orderby' query attribute. **
If your **query explicitly sets the 'orderby' attribute, and the override checkbox is checked (see screenshot #5), then the plugin will override your query and rank the results as per your manual order. However, if you uncheck the ovverride setting (ie override is set to false), your query will be ordered as per the orderby directive. However, you can programmatically override theorderby
directive with the following hook should you need finer control,add_filter('rpwc2_allow_custom_sort_orderby_override', 'override_orderby_sorting', 10,5); function override_orderby_sorting($override, $wp_query, $taxonomy, $term_id, $type){ //check this is the correct query if($wp_query....){ $override = true; } return $override; }
** 3. You are displaying a taxonomy archive page. **
If your query is a taxonomy archive query for a given term, then WordPress core query does not specify thepost_type
by default see this bug). This forces the plugin to seek whichpost_type
is associated with this taxonomy. In the event that you are using this taxonomy to classify multiple post types this will lead to the plugin choosing the first type it encounters with available posts for the queried term, and this may give spurious results. A hook is provided for you to correctly filter thepost_type
and ensure the right results,add_filter('reorderpwc_filter_multiple_post_type', 'filter_my_ranked_post_type', 10, 4); function filter_my_ranked_post_type($type, $post_types, $taxonomy, $wp_query){ /* String $type post type to filter. * String $post_types post types associated with taxonomy. * String $taxonomy being queried. * WP_Query $wp_query query object. */ if('my-custom-tax' == $taxonomy && in_array('my-custom-post',$post_types)) $type = 'my-custom-post'; return $type; }
11. Programmatically ranking initial post order in admin page.
If you are migrating from another plugin in which you have painstakingly sorted your posts, or you need have the intial order of posts based on some other criteria (some date or other meta field value), then you can use the following filter to pass the required rank,
add_filter('rpwc2_filter_default_ranking', 'custom_intial_order', 10, 4); function custom_intial_order($ranking, $term_id, $taxonomy, $post_type){ //$ranking an array containing a list of post IDs in their default order. //$term_id the current term being reordered. //$taxonomy the taxonomy to which the term belongs. //$post_type the post type being reordered. //check if this is the correct taxonomy/post type you wish to reorder. if('my-custom-post' != $post_type || 'my-category'!=$taxonomy ) return $ranking; //load you default order programmatically... says as $new_order from your DB $filtered_order = array() foreach($new_order as $post_id){ //check the post ID is actually in the ranking. if(in_array($post_id, $new_order)) filtered_order[]=$post_id; } return $filtered_order; }
in version 2.6.1, an additional filter is introduced to allow different post status to appear in the initial rank,
add_filter('rpwc2_initial_rank_posts_status', 'allow_draft_in_initial_order',10,3); function allow_draft_in_initial_order($status, $post_type, $term_id){ //allow draft post to be ranked initially. By default $status=array('private','publish','future'). if('post'==$post_type){ $status[]='draft'; } return $status; }
this will only affect the posts in the admin dashboard reorder page.
12. Can I rank draft posts?
Yes! By default all posts moved to draft/pending status are removed from the manual ranking. However, you can hook the following filter and control which draft or pending posts should appear in the manual ranking in the amdin dashboard,
add_filter('rpwc2_rank_draft_posts', 'allow_draft_posts_in_ranking', 10, 5); function allow_draft_posts_in_ranking($allow, $new_status, $old_status, $term_id, $post){ //$new_status of the post being saved. //$old_status of the post being saved. //$term_id term for which the post is being ranked. //WP_Post object being saved. if(new_status == 'pending' && $term_id == 5){ //allow pending posts for term id 5 to be ranked. $allow = true; } return $allow; }
NOTE: this will only affect the admin dashboard queries. Your draft posts will appear in the admin re-order pages but will not appear in the front-end queries, as only published posts will be retrieved by your queries.
If you need to have draft/pending posts in the intial ranking, see FAQ #11. -
13. Can I remove private/future posts from the manual rank ?
Yes, there is a filter that allows you to control those too,
add_filter('rpwc2_rank_published_posts', 'disable_future_posts_in_ranking', 10, 5);
function allow_draft_posts_in_ranking($allow, $new_status, $old_status, $term_id, $post){
//$new_status of the post being saved.
//$old_status of the post being saved.
//$term_id term for which the post is being ranked.
//WP_Post object being saved.
if(new_status == 'future' && $term_id == 5){ //do not allow future posts for term id 5 to be ranked.
$allow = false;
return $allow;
NOTE: note that this will effect front-end mixed-queries trying to display both future (and/or private) and 'publish'ed posts.as of v2.6.1, the intial sorted posts includes future and provate posts which you can remove using,
add_filter('rpwc2_initial_rank_posts_status', 'disable_future_in_initial_order',10,3); function allow_draft_in_initial_order($status, $post_type, $term_id){ //allow draft post to be ranked initially. By default $status=array('private','publish','future'). if('post'==$post_type){ $status=array('publish','private'); } return $status; }
NOTE: in all 3 cases, you may use the reset button (see screenshot #3) on the reorder admin page to get the filters to change the order.
14. Is it possible to control when the manual sorting is applied programmatically ?
In v2.7 a new filter has been added to do just that, allowing you to override the sorting of anually ranked posts,
add_filter('rpwc2_manual_sort_override', 'override_manual_sorting', 10,5); function override_manual_sorting($apply_sorting, $wp_query, $taxonomy, $term_id, $type){ //$apply_sorting a boolean to filter, true by default, which will apply the manual sorting. //the current queried $taxonomy with $term_id for post_type $type. // $wp_query is the WP_Querry objet //check some parameters a if(....){ $apply_sorting = false; //do not sort using the manual ranking. } return $apply_sorting; }
use the WordPress core functions,
or get_previous_posts_link() and get_next_posts_link(). -
16. How to get adjacent posts IDs?
Unlike the the posts navigation links, the function
can be called outside a paged query, and will not return the correct post IDs in your manual sorted posts.as of v2.8, a new function is provided to expose this functionality, however you will need to provide the post ID, the taxonomy term and the post type which identifies this post as being part of a manually sorted list of posts for that term.
$adj = get_adjacent_rpwc2_posts($post_id, $term_id, $post_type, $taxonomy); //if the post is part of a manually ranked list, $adj->prev_post; //this is the previous post ID, null is the post is the first in the list. $adj->next_post; //this is the next post ID, null is the post is the last in the list.
17. I have upgraded from v1.X, should I delete the old table ?
The old plugin (v1.X) used a custom table to stored the manual order of posts. This legacy data will be imported into the new plugin when you upgrade. However, it is important that you delete the old table once you have successfully imported your ranking data.
How so I know if the data was successfully imported?
Go to your posts reorder admin pages, for each manually sorted term, check that your posts are in the correct order and that none are missing. If the lists of posts are correct (the right number of posts in the right order), then move the 2nd posts to the first position and back to the 2nd position. This will automatically save the ranked list into your database usign the latest format. Repeat for all manually sorted terms. Once they are all saved with the new format, you will need to delete the legacy table.If you have spurious post listings then it is possible the imported data has been corrupted, you can reset it using the provided reset button, however, if the list of posts is still showing erroneous results then you will need to reset the manual ranking for that term one you have deleted the legacy table, and manually re-order your posts.
How do I delete the legacy data? **
In your dashboard, navigate to the Settings->Reorder Posts page, scroll to the bottom of the page and proceed to the delete the legacy table under the section title: **'Delete old custom table from plugin v1.x'. -
18. How can I access the ranking order of a post within a term ?
v2.11 introduced the
function to do this.//the function returns an array of post IDs for a given post type and term ID $ranking = get_rpwc2_order($post_type, $term_id); //the ranking will refelct the manual sort order that was saved in the admin reOrder page. $zero_based_rank = array_search($post_ID, $ranking);
19. Can I order attahment posts types ?
As of v2.13 this is now possible thanks to the contribution from @robrecord. You will need to add the 'inherit' post status to the allowed status to make it work using the following filters in your
file,add_filter( 'rpwc2_initial_rank_posts_allowed_statuses', function ($statuses) { $statuses[] = 'inherit'; return $statuses; } ); add_filter( 'rpwc2_initial_rank_posts_status', function ($status, $post_type, $term_id) { if ('attachment' === $post_type) { $status[] = 'inherit'; } return $status; }, 10, 3 );
20. Can I debug the manual ranking process ?
Sure, if you enable
in yourwp-config.php
file,define('WP_DEBUG', true); define('WPGURUS_DEBUG', true);
the plugin will printout debug messages, along with the final SQL query for your manually ranked posts. This is useful in order to determine if another plugin is also filtering your posts queries and overriding the ranking of the resuls.
Colaboradores y desarrolladores
«ReOrder Posts within Categories» es un software de código abierto. Las siguientes personas han colaborado con este plugin.
Colaboradores«ReOrder Posts within Categories» ha sido traducido a 7 idiomas locales. Gracias a los traductores por sus contribuciones.
Traduce «ReOrder Posts within Categories» a tu idioma.
¿Interesado en el desarrollo?
Revisa el código , echa un vistazo al repositorio SVN o suscríbete al registro de desarrollo por RSS.
Registro de cambios
- fix term validation issue on admin reorder page.
- cleanup html escaping logic.
- fix misuse esc_attr_e() bug.
- added localisation for admin menu labels.
- fix admin page refresh post selection.
- fix for PHPCS WP Code security std.
- WPML compatibility fix.
- enable full SQL print in debug mode.
- cache ranked queries to speed up front-end queries.
- enable attachment posts (see FAQ #19)
- enable upgrade warnings before major upgrades.
- fix null start/end in admin page.
- handle array orderby directives.
- handle multi orderby directive.
- fix slider range reload bug.
- fix non-woocommerce override.
- typo fix
- WooCommerce products orderby overriden by default.
- expose functionality
to retrieve rank for given post_type in given term.
- undo change to v2.10.3
- set post id select query as unique.
- fix ranked id merger bug.
- fix disappearing ranked posts when editing them.
- fix illegal offset warnings.
- improve taxonomy term dropdown list.


text:
St Thomas Sunday
Second Sunday of Pascha
"My Lord and My God"
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Christ is risen!
Today is the second Sunday of Pascha already. It is the Sunday of St. Thomas. Today we read about, as the church calls it, St. Thomas' "believing unbelief."[1]
There is a theme here that the church is going to be talking about now in the light of the resurrection during the whole Pentecostarion period: the enlightenment of man. The resurrection is being applied now. We see it in the Acts that we're reading for quite some time now. In the light of the resurrection, we see what's happening. We see how many people were healed, how many people were converted, and how lives were changed. Even the shadow of the apostles healed people of their infirmities.[2] In the light of the resurrection, there was activity, there was motion, and there was enlightenment.
St Thomas, who was no different than you or I, had to be enlightened also. Everyone has different levels of understanding on various things, even among the apostles, even among the saints. It is fascinating to look and see how our Lord in the forty days that He spent on the earth enlightened so many using different ways to enlighten them, and also throughout the whole of the gospels how He reached people where they needed to be reached. The final destination is always the same: to follow the commandments and to become purified, so that we can know Christ in an intimate way. But sometimes Christ teaches certain people a little bit different. In fact, everyone is treated a little bit different.
Thomas wasn't there the first night of Pascha.[3] He had left probably on some errand, and that is when Christ came, the doors being shut. And Jesus spoke to the eleven, or actually, ten[4] at that point, and they were glad. I have always marveled how in the scriptures great, momentous occasions are stated so laconically. "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord."[5] Indeed, they were glad, when they saw the God-man! But Thomas was not there, and the resurrection was such an incredible thing; he cannot really be faulted for not believing.
Peter didn't believe when he saw the grave clothes, only John did, when they went into the grave and saw the clothes lying folded up.[6] John saw and believed, but Peter didn't. He went away, wondering in himself what had come to pass.[7]
Mary Magdalene, who saw the stone rolled away from the tomb together with the Theotokos, didn't immediately believe in the resurrection. She came back to the tomb with myrrh and aloes to anoint the Lord, He Who in her mind was dead. She was weeping because He wasn't in the tomb.[8] She was weeping for someone Who was dead. That's why we sing, "Do not weep for one who is dead," it says (in a paraphrasement). "He is not dead, He is not here, He is alive and risen." In our exapostilarion we speak of this quite a bit, of how Mary misunderstood. And our Lord came to her and she thought He was the gardener, till He spoke to her and just in the hearing of His voice, when He said, "Mary", and then she recognized Him.[9]
Other disciples spent an entire a day's journey with Christ, and didn't understand. They were Luke and Cleopas, on the way to Emmaus.[10] The tomb had already been empty for some time, and they were walking a long distance. It says in the scriptures 60 furlongs, quite a long distance, a day's journey, in the hot sun, and our Lord drew alongside them, and He spoke to them, and they didn't understand Who He was. They thought that He was a misinformed stranger, because He made like He wondered what the events were in the past couple days.
But their hearts burned within them. Something about this Man captivated them, when He spoke to them about the scriptures, and opened their understanding. That's why it says: "And then opened He their understanding of the scriptures." And when they sat down, and when He broke bread, (which was of course, the Body and Blood of Christ), then they saw Him, and He vanished. And as they were making their way back in the wee hours of the morning, another day's journey, (they took two days' journey in one day), Christ was appearing to the other apostles, save Thomas.
You see how He enlightened people where they needed to be enlightened.
Luke and Cleopas must have needed this conversation with the Lord, and to see Him in the breaking of the bread, to really have the point brought home that yes, the Lord had risen.
Mary had to be spoken with by Lord. She had to see Him.
John believed just by seeing the empty tomb.
Peter was met by the Lord, the church understands.[11] Peter was met individually by the Lord, because after all, he was a bit shaken, wasn't he? Peter was a man of great bravery. He can't be faulted for his denying Christ three times. We would have done it a thousand times. But he was much shaken because of this, and because of his emotional turmoil he was in, it was very difficult for him to believe in the resurrection, because he was all wrapped up with his feeling so completely unworthy of what the Lord had called him to do. So the Lord had to meet with Peter individually, apart from the other apostles. And in fact, Peter was the first of the apostles to see the risen Lord. And I suppose maybe the second to believe after John, who without seeing believed.
And now the last to find out, after eight long days of hearing from the apostles about the Lord being risen, Thomas, is in the room and the Lord comes, through the doors again, which were shut, passing through the doors, because after all, His body is a human body, but it is a transfigured human body. It's not subject to the same kind of laws that we are subject to. It doesn't get tired, it doesn't get sick. And that's the way we will be as well. The way Christ was in His transfigured body is a prophecy for us of how our bodies will be as well.
Jesus comes in and speaks very gently to Thomas. He says, "I know what you need. You need to touch Me. Feel the prints of the nails in my hands. Feel the slit in my side, and be not faithless, but believing."[12] And then Thomas has the privilege of being the first of the apostles to proclaim unambiguously, in clear terms, the dual nature of Christ's humanity and His divinity. It is the first confession of faith in the scriptures, where Christ is proclaimed God and man openly. He says, "My Lord and my God!"[13]
Thomas had to wait awhile, but God gave him that great privilege of almost, shall we say, beginning the symbol of faith[14]. What a great privilege it was.
In the coming week we will be speaking about the myrrh-bearing women[15], and there is a theme throughout the story of the myrrh-bearing women of their continuing enlightenment, just like for Thomas or for Peter or for Luke and Cleopas or for the other apostles. And then we go onto the blind man and the lame man, the paralytic. We see how the resurrection is applied.
Why does the church do this? Why do we speak of things that have to do with enlightenment and healing right after Pascha? Well, because the resurrection applies to us in our life now. It's very important to understand this. That's why I have been speaking of it so often. It's very important to understand, because you must know that God has given you the ability to be able to get rid of your sins, of your passions, of the problems in your life that are making you to be away from God. You have the ability, through the resurrection. And all these examples of people that partially believed, even the great apostles, who were at times disbelievers, at times were cowards, at times were at odds with each other and vied amongst themselves who would be greatest, and all the other things -- even them -- the Lord purified them, and brought them to a great wholeness.
If He can do it with them and do it with all the others examples in the scriptures, with the paralytic and the blind man and the woman at the well, named Photini[16], and all the others, then He can do it with us.
I tell you, the resurrection is not something that you believe in as an event that occurred in the past. Nor is it something that you believe, and say that it will happen in the future, like Mary and Martha did, saying, "Oh Lord, I believe in the resurrection. In the last day, all will be resurrected."[17] When their brother Lazarus lay dead, and Christ showed them, "I am the resurrection. If I live in you, then you are resurrected now, not later." It is very important to understand this.
A Christian who understands that Christ's becoming man makes him able to do holy things will not fall prey to despondency. Despondency is really the negation of belief in God, you know. Despondency is a type of atheism. You should fear despondency and confess it every time. It is a terrible sin, because in it, you are rejecting the resurrection. God can save you, and God will save you if you live the Christian life. Yes, indeed, you must consider yourself unworthy of salvation, but you must also know that Christ has promised it.
So live as a Christian, fast as a Christian, think as a Christian, and when you cannot do things properly, when you do things that are sinful, run to confession with the sure hope and sure knowledge, that God will receive your repentance, because of the resurrection. I tell you if you live in the light of the resurrection, you will not become despondent. As a pastor I believe that the number one sin I see is despondency. Sometimes it is cloaked, so that people can have a sin and may be despondent about it, but not so noticeably despondent, so that it is a sort of semi-excuse.
And sometimes it is because people really desire to change, and they just can't believe that they can really change. Mary and Martha couldn't believe that their brother would be resurrected after four days. The apostles, many of them, could not believe that our Lord, Who spoke of the resurrection over and over and over again, could be resurrected. It took many proofs for some of them, such as Thomas, and the other ones as well. You know, it says "Many things the Lord did, many signs He did, but not everything is written in this book."[18]
By the way, as an aside, you realize that the Lord taught the apostles so much that is not written down, that is part of our holy tradition now. The apostles transmitted it to their disciples, and so on. It wasn't written down, but it was precious, and St. John only in a dark way refers to it.
So today we see an example of a man, Thomas, enlightened. Christ went out of His way to enlighten him. He sort of accorded him special treatment, as it were. And Thomas believed, and he confessed. Christ did and does the same thing for us, to bring us to enlightenment. And now we must believe and confess.
Now He said something else that's very important, important not to pass over. He said it, before Thomas was there, and many other times when Thomas heard. He said, "As the Father hath sent me, so send I you."[19]
And by extension, it is the same for us. No, we don't have the role of the apostles. We are not bishops, and we don't have the grace that has been bestowed upon the apostles, but we are sent along basically the same path: the path of obedience to the same gospel, the path of obedience to the commandments of our God, the life in the church, and everything that living as an Orthodox Christian entails.
Later on, just after this reading in fact, the disciples, seven of them, are fishing, and the Lord tells them to let down their nets, and they had a catch, and then Peter is told to bring the catch to the shore, a hundred and fifty and three fishes, and yet the net did not break.[20] And later, after they ate, our Lord restored Peter by asking him three times, "Simon, son of Jonah, lovest thou me?" and then He showed him how he would die.[21] This is tied in with when He was saying, "As my Father hath sent Me, so send I you."
We must use Christ as the example of how to live, whether as an apostle or whether as anyone else. The Christian life is one of difficulty and one of strife. We are in the light of the resurrection, but we can never get far away from knowing that our life is a difficult one. We make it so because of our sins, sometimes, and other times because of the evil of the world surrounding us. Follow the example of the saints. Follow the example of the apostles. Live as they lived, which means you live the life in the church.
And brothers and sisters, always believe that the resurrection applies to you, now. Fear disbelief in it. Every time you fall into despondency, berate yourself for being a fool and gazing into an empty tomb, and wondering where the Lord is. Don't be like this. Believe in the resurrection, and believe that you can be changed, and through struggle, arduous struggle, through many tears, through ups and downs, and even in the midst of your sins, God will perfect you, but you must believe. Amen.
The Gospel for St. Thomas Sunday
John 20:19-31
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. {20} And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. {21} Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. {22} And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: {23} Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. {24} But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. {25} The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. {26} And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. {27} Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. {28} And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. {29} Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. {30} And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: {31} But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Priest Seraphim Holland 2009. St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, McKinney, Texas
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[1] Cf. one of the stichera at Vespers: "When Thou didst enter, O Christ, while the doors were shut, / Thomas, who was called the Twin, was not with them. / Wherefore, he doubted what was told him, / thus by unbelief confirming his belief. / And Thou, O Good One, didst not disdain to show him / Thine immaculate side and the wounds of Thy hands and feet. / Wherefore, having felt and beheld, / he confessed that Thou art neither naked God nor mere man, // and he cried: O my Lord and my God, glory be to Thee."
[2] (Acts 5:15) Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
[3] (John 20:19,24) Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. … {24} But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
[4] Judas was dead, Thomas was gone, and the replacement for Judas (Matthias) had not been elected yet. This leaves ten.
[5] John 20:20
[6] (John 20:1-8) The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. {2} Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. {3} Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. {4} So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. {5} And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. {6} Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, {7} And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. {8} Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
[7] (Luke 24:10-12) It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. {11} And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. {12} Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.
[8] (John 20:11-16) But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, {12} And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. {13} And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. {14} And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. {15} Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. {16} Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Luke 24:13-33
[11] We understand this from holy tradition, and the scripture: (Luke 24:33-35) And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, {34} Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. {35} And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
[12] Cf. (John 20:27) Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
[13] John 20:28
[14] The Symbol of faith is also known as the "Nicene Creed".
[15] The Sunday of the Myrhbearers is the 3rd Sunday of Pascha (counting Pascha as the 1st Sunday of Pascha)
[16] The Samaritan Woman, whom the church knows as St Photini (5th Sunday of Pascha)
[17] Cf. John 11, and especially (John 11:23-26) Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. {24} Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. {25} Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: {26} And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
[18] (John 21:25) And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
[19] John 20:21
[20] John 21:11
[21] Cf. John 21:15-19

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Ending 'Too Big to Fail': A Proposal for Reform Before It's Too Late (With Reference to Patrick Henry, Complexity and Reality)
January 16, 2013 Washington, D.C.
It is an honor to be introduced by my college classmate, John Henry. John is a descendant of the iconic patriot, Patrick Henry. Most of John's ancestors were prominent colonial Virginians and many were anti-crown. Patrick, however, was the most outspoken. Ask John why this was so, and he will answer: "Patrick was poor."
However poor he may have been, Patrick Henry was a rich orator. In one of his greatest speeches, he said: "Different men often see the same subject in different lights; and therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony … [it] is one of awful moment to this country."
Patrick Henry was addressing the repression of the American colonies by the British crown. Tonight, I wish to speak to a different kind of repression—the injustice of being held hostage to large financial institutions considered "too big to fail," or TBTF for short.
I submit that these institutions, as a result of their privileged status, exact an unfair tax upon the American people. Moreover, they interfere with the transmission of monetary policy and inhibit the advancement of our nation's economic prosperity.
I have spoken of this for several years, beginning with a speech on the "Pathology of Too-Big-to-Fail" in July 2009.[1] My colleague, Harvey Rosenblum—a highly respected economist and the Dallas Fed's director of research—and I and our staff have written about it extensively. Tomorrow, we will issue a special report that further elucidates our proposal for dealing with the pathology of TBTF. It also addresses the superior relative performance of community banks during the recent crisis and how they are being victimized by excessive regulation that stems from responses to the sins of their behemoth counterparts. I urge all of you to read that report.[2]
Now, Federal Reserve convention requires that I issue a disclaimer here: I speak only for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, not for others associated with our central bank. That is usually abundantly clear. In many matters, my staff and I entertain opinions that are very different from those of many of our esteemed colleagues elsewhere in the Federal Reserve System. Today, I "speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve" on the issue of TBTF, while meaning no disrespect to others who may hold different views.
The Problem of TBTF
Everyone and their sister knows that financial institutions deemed too big to fail were at the epicenter of the 2007–09 financial crisis. Previously thought of as islands of safety in a sea of risk, they became the enablers of a financial tsunami. Now that the storm has subsided, we submit that they are a key reason accommodative monetary policy and government policies have failed to adequately affect the economic recovery. Harvey Rosenblum and I first wrote about this in an article published in the Wall Street Journal in September 2009, "The Blob That Ate Monetary Policy."[3] Put simply, sick banks don't lend. Sick—seriously undercapitalized—megabanks stopped their lending and capital market activities during the crisis and economic recovery. They brought economic growth to a standstill and spread their sickness to the rest of the banking system.
Congress thought it would address the issue of TBTF through the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Preventing TBTF from ever occurring again is in the very preamble of the act. We contend that Dodd–Frank has not done enough to corral TBTF banks and that, on balance, the act has made things worse, not better. We submit that, in the short run, parts of Dodd–Frank have exacerbated weak economic growth by increasing regulatory uncertainty in key sectors of the U.S. economy. It has clearly benefited many lawyers and created new layers of bureaucracy. Despite its good intention, it has been counterproductive, working against solving the core problem it seeks to address.
Defining TBTF
Let me define what we mean when we speak of TBTF. The Dallas Fed's definition is financial firms whose owners, managers and customers believe themselves to be exempt from the processes of bankruptcy and creative destruction. Such firms capture the financial upside of their actions but largely avoid payment—bankruptcy and closure—for actions gone wrong, in violation of one of the basic tenets of market capitalism (at least as it is supposed to be practiced in the United States). Such firms enjoy subsidies relative to their non-TBTF competitors. They are thus more likely to take greater risks in search of profits, protected by the presumption that bankruptcy is a highly unlikely outcome.
The phenomenon of TBTF is the result of an implicit but widely taken-for-granted government-sanctioned policy of coming to the aid of the owners, managers and creditors of a financial institution deemed to be so large, interconnected and/or complex that its failure could substantially damage the financial system. By reducing a TBTF firm's exposure to losses from excessive risk taking, such policies undermine the discipline that market forces normally assert on management decisionmaking.
The reduction of market discipline has been further eroded by implicit extensions of the federal safety net beyond commercial banks to their nonbank affiliates. Moreover, industry consolidation, fostered by subsidized growth (and during the crisis, encouraged by the federal government in the acquisitions of Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual and Wachovia), has perpetuated and enlarged the weight of financial firms deemed TBTF. This reduces competition in lending.
Dodd–Frank does not do enough to constrain the behemoth banks' advantages. Indeed, given its complexity, it unwittingly exacerbates them.
Complexity Bites
Andrew Haldane, the highly respected member of the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England, addressed this at last summer's Jackson Hole, Wyo., policymakers' meeting in witty remarks titled, "The Dog and the Frisbee."[4] Here are some choice passages from that noteworthy speech.
Haldane notes that regulators' "… efforts to catch the crisis Frisbee have continued to escalate. Casual empiricism reveals an ever-growing number of regulators … Ever-larger litters have not, however, obviously improved the watchdogs' Frisbee-catching abilities. [After all,] no regulator had the foresight to predict the financial crisis, although some have since exhibited supernatural powers of hindsight.
"So what is the secret of the watchdogs' failure? The answer is simple. Or rather, it is complexity … complex regulation … might not just be costly and cumbersome but sub-optimal. … In financial regulation, less may be more."
One is reminded of the comment French Prime Minister Clemenceau made about President Wilson's 14 points: "Why 14?" he asked. "God did it in 10."
Were that we only had 14 points of financial regulation to contend with today. Haldane notes that Dodd–Frank comes against a background of ever-greater escalation of financial regulation. He points out that nationally chartered banks began to file the antecedents of "call reports" after the formation of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 1863. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 required state-chartered member banks to do the same, having them submitted to the Federal Reserve starting in 1917. They were short forms; in 1930, Haldane noted, these reports numbered 80 entries. "In 1986, [the 'call reports' submitted by bank holding companies] covered 547 columns in Excel, by 1999, 1,208 columns. By 2011 … 2,271 columns." "Fortunately," he adds wryly, "Excel had expanded sufficiently to capture the increase."
Though this growingly complex reporting failed to prevent detection of the seeds of the debacle of 2007–09, Dodd–Frank has layered on copious amounts of new complexity. The legislation has 16 titles and runs 848 pages. It spawns litter upon litter of regulations: More than 8,800 pages of regulations have already been proposed, and the process is not yet done. In his speech, Haldane noted—conservatively, in my view—that a survey of the Federal Register showed that complying with these new rules would require 2,260,631 labor hours each year. He added: "Of course, the costs of this regulatory edifice would be considered small if they delivered even modest improvements to regulators' ability to avert future crises." He then goes on to argue the wick is not worth the candle. And he concludes: "Modern finance is complex, perhaps too complex. Regulation of modern finance is complex, almost certainly too complex. That configuration spells trouble. As you do not fight fire with fire, you do not fight complexity with complexity. [The situation] requires a regulatory response grounded in simplicity, not complexity. Delivering that would require an about-turn."
The Dallas Fed's Proposal: A Reasonable 'About-Turn'
The Dallas Fed's proposal offers an "about-turn" and a way to mend the flaws in Dodd–Frank. It fights unnecessary complexity with simplicity where appropriate. It eliminates much of the mumbo-jumbo, ineffective, costly complexity of Dodd–Frank. Of note, it would be especially helpful to non-TBTF banks that do not pose systemic or broad risk to the economy or the financial system. Our proposal would relieve small banks of some unnecessary burdens arising from Dodd–Frank that unfairly penalize them. Our proposal would effectively level the playing field for all banking organizations in the country and provide the best protection for taxpaying citizens.
In a nutshell, we recommend that TBTF financial institutions be restructured into multiple business entities. Only the resulting downsized commercial banking operations—and not shadow banking affiliates or the parent company—would benefit from the safety net of federal deposit insurance and access to the Federal Reserve's discount window.
Defining the Landscape
It is important to have an accurate view of the landscape of banking today in order to understand the impact of this proposal.
As of third quarter 2012, there were approximately 5,600 commercial banking organizations in the U.S. The bulk of these—roughly 5,500—were community banks with assets of less than $10 billion. These community-focused organizations accounted for 98.6 percent of all banks but only 12 percent of total industry assets. Another group numbering nearly 70 banking organizations—with assets of between $10 billion and $250 billion—accounted for 1.2 percent of banks, while controlling 19 percent of industry assets. The remaining group, the megabanks—with assets of between $250 billion and $2.3 trillion—was made up of a mere 12 institutions. These dozen behemoths accounted for roughly 0.2 percent of all banks, but they held 69 percent of industry assets.
SOURCES: Call reports (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council); FR Y-9C filers (National Information Center, Federal Reserve System).
The 12 institutions that presently account for 69 percent of total industry assets are candidates to be considered TBTF because of the threat they could pose to the financial system and the economy should one or more of them get into trouble. By contrast, should any of the other 99.8 percent of banking institutions get into trouble, the matter most likely would be settled with private-sector ownership changes and minimal governmental intervention.
How and why does this work for 99.8 percent but not the other 0.2 percent?
To answer this question, it helps to consider the sources of regulatory and market discipline imposed on each of the three groups of banks.
Let's look at two dimensions of regulatory discipline: Potential closure of the institution and the effectiveness of supervisory pressure on bank management practices.
Do the owners and managers of a banking institution operate with the belief that their institution is subject to a bankruptcy process that works reasonably quickly to transfer ownership and control to another banking entity or entities? Is there a group of interested and involved shareholders that can exert a restraining force on franchise-threatening risk taking by the bank's top management team? Can management be replaced and ownership value wiped out? Is the firm controlled de facto by its owners, or instead effectively management-controlled?[5] In addition, we ask: To what extent do uninsured creditors of the banking entity impose risk-management discipline on management?
This analytical framework is summarized in the following slide:
SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Looking across line 1, it is clear that community banks are subject to considerable regulatory and shareholder discipline. They can and do fail. In the last few years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has built a reputation for regulators carrying out Joseph Schumpeter's concept of "creative destruction" by taking over small banks on a Friday evening and reopening them on Monday morning under new ownership. "In on Friday, out by Monday" is the mantra of this process.
Knowing the power of banking supervisors to close the institution, owners and managers of community banks heed supervisory suggestions to limit risk. Community banks often have a few significant shareholders who have a considerable portion of their wealth tied to the fate of the bank. Consequently, they exert substantial control over the behavior of management because risk and potential closure matter to them. Since community banks derive the bulk of their funding from federally insured deposits, they are simple rather than complex in their capital structure and rarely have uninsured and unsecured creditors. "Market discipline" over management practices is primarily exerted through shareholders.
Of the three groups, the 70 regional and moderate-sized banking organizations depicted in line 2 are subject to a broader range of market discipline. Like community banks, these institutions are not exempt from the bankruptcy process; they can and do fail. But given their size, complexity and generally larger geographic footprint, the failure resolution and ownership transfer processes cannot always be accomplished over a weekend. In practice, owners and managers of mid-sized institutions are nonetheless aware of the downside consequences of the risks taken by the institution. Uninsured depositors and unsecured creditors are also aware of their unprotected status in the event the institution experiences financial difficulties. Mid-sized banking institutions receive a good dose of external discipline from both supervisors and market-based signals.
TBTF megabanks, depicted in line 3, receive far too little regulatory and market discipline. This is unfortunate because their failure, if it were allowed, could disrupt financial markets and the economy. For all intents and purposes, we believe that TBTF banks have not been allowed to fail outright.[6] Knowing this, the management of TBTF banks can, to a large extent, choose to resist the advice and guidance of their bank supervisors' efforts to impose regulatory discipline. And for TBTF banks, the forces of market discipline from shareholders and unsecured creditors are limited.
Let's first consider discipline from shareholders. Having millions of stockholders has diluted shareholders' ability to prevent the management of TBTF banks from pursuing corporate strategies that are profitable for management, though not necessarily for shareholders.
As we learned during the crisis, adverse information on poor financial performance often is available too late for shareholder reaction or credit default swap (CDS) spreads to have any impact on management behavior. For example, during the financial crisis, shares in two of the largest bank holding companies (BHCs) declined more than 95 percent from their prior peak prices and their CDS spreads went haywire.[7] The ratings agencies eventually reacted, in keeping with their tendency to be reactive rather than proactive. But the damage from excessive risk taking had already been done. And after the crisis? Judging from the behavior of many of the largest BHCs, with limited exception, efforts by shareholders of these institutions to meaningfully influence management compensation practices have been slow in coming. So much for shareholder discipline as a check on TBTF banks.
Unfortunately, TBTF banks also do not face much external discipline from unsecured creditors. An important facet of TBTF is that the funding sources for megabanks extend far beyond insured deposits, as referenced by my mention of CDS spreads. The largest banks, not just the TBTF banks, fund themselves with a wide range of liabilities. These include large, negotiable CDs, which often exceed the FDIC insurance limit; federal funds purchased from other banks, all of which are uninsured, and subordinated notes and bonds, generally unsecured. It is not unusual for such uninsured/unsecured liabilities to account for well over half the liabilities of TBTF institutions. If market discipline were to be imposed on TBTF institutions, one would expect it to come from uninsured/unsecured depositors, creditors and debt holders. But TBTF status exerts perverse market discipline on the risk-taking activities of these banks. Unsecured creditors recognize the implicit government guarantee of TBTF banks' liabilities. As a result, unsecured depositors and creditors offer their funds at a lower cost to TBTF banks than to mid-sized and regional banks that face the risk of failure.
This TBTF subsidy is quite large and has risen following the financial crisis. Recent estimates by the Bank for International Settlements, for example, suggest that the implicit government guarantee provides the largest U.S. BHCs with an average credit rating uplift of more than two notches, thereby lowering average funding costs a full percentage point relative to their smaller competitors.[8] Our aforementioned friend from the Bank of England, Andrew Haldane, estimates the current implicit TBTF global subsidy to be roughly $300 billion per year for the 29 global institutions identified by the Financial Stability Board (2011) as "systemically important."[9] To put that $300 billion estimated annual subsidy in perspective, all the U.S. BHCs summed together reported 2011 earnings of $108 billion.
Add to that the burdens stemming from the complexity of TBTF banks. Here is the basic organization diagram for a typical complex financial holding company:
SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
To simplify a complex issue, one might consider all the operations other than the commercial banking operation as shadow banking affiliates, including any special investment vehicles—or SIVs—of the commercial bank [10].
Now, consider this table. It gives you a sense of the size and scope of some of the five largest BHCs, noting their nondeposit liabilities in billions of dollars and their number of total subsidiaries and countries of operation (according to the Financial Stability Oversight Council):
SOURCES: "Which Banks Could Face Cap on Size?" by Victoria McGrane, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 11, 2012; Financial Stability Oversight Council.
For perspective, consider the sad case of Lehman Brothers. More than four years later, the Lehman bankruptcy is still not completely resolved. As of its 10-K regulatory filing in 2007, Lehman operated a mere 209 subsidiaries across only 21 countries and had total liabilities of $619 billion. By these metrics, Lehman was a small player compared with any of the Big Five. If Lehman Brothers was too big for a private-sector solution while still a going concern, what can we infer about the Big Five in the table?
Correcting for the Drawbacks of Dodd–Frank
Dodd–Frank addresses this concern. Under the Orderly Liquidation Authority provisions of Dodd–Frank, a systemically important financial institution would receive debtor-in-possession financing from the U.S. Treasury over the period its operations needed to be stabilized. This is quasi-nationalization, just in a new, and untested, format. In Dallas, we consider government ownership of our financial institutions, even on a "temporary" basis, to be a clear distortion of our capitalist principles. Of course, an alternative would be to have another systemically important financial institution acquire the failing institution. We have been down that road already. All it does is compound the problem, expanding the risk posed by the even larger surviving behemoth organizations. In addition, perpetuating the practice of arranging shotgun marriages between giants at taxpayer expense worsens the funding disadvantage faced by the 99.8 percent remaining—small and regional banks. Merging large institutions is a form of discrimination that favors the unwieldy and dangerous TBTF banks over more focused, fit and disciplined banks.
The approach of the Dallas Fed neither expands the reach of government nor further handicaps the 99.8 percent of community and regional banks. Nor does it fight complexity with complexity.
It calls for reshaping TBTF banking institutions into smaller, less-complex institutions that are: economically viable; profitable; competitively able to attract financial capital and talent; and of a size, complexity and scope that allows both regulatory and market discipline to restrain excessive risk taking.
Our proposal is simple and easy to understand. It can be accomplished with minimal statutory modification and implemented with as little government intervention as possible. It calls first for rolling back the federal safety net to apply only to basic, traditional commercial banking. Second, it calls for clarifying, through simple, understandable disclosures, that the federal safety net applies only to the commercial bank and its customers and never ever to the customers of any other affiliated subsidiary or the holding company. The shadow banking activities of financial institutions must not receive taxpayer support.
We recognize that undoing customer inertia and management habits at TBTF banking institutions may take many years. During such a period, TBTF banks could possibly sow the seeds for another financial crisis. For these reasons, additional action may be necessary. The TBTF BHCs may need to be downsized and restructured so that the safety-net-supported commercial banking part of the holding company can be effectively disciplined by regulators and market forces. And there will likely have to be additional restrictions (or possibly prohibitions) on the ability to move assets or liabilities from a shadow banking affiliate to a banking affiliate within the holding company.[11]
To illustrate how the first two points in our plan would work, I come back to the hypothetical structure of a complex financial holding company. Recall that this type of holding company has a commercial bank subsidiary and several subsidiaries that are not traditional commercial banks: insurance, securities underwriting and brokerage, finance company and others, many with a vast geographic reach.
Where the Government Safety Net Would Begin and End
Under our proposal, only the commercial bank would have access to deposit insurance provided by the FDIC and discount window loans provided by the Federal Reserve. These two features of the safety net would explicitly, by statute, become unavailable to any shadow banking affiliate, special investment vehicle of the commercial bank or any obligations of the parent holding company. This is largely the current case—but in theory, not in practice. And consistent enforcement is viewed as unlikely.
SOURCE: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Reinforced by a New Covenant
To reinforce the statute and its credibility, every customer, creditor and counterparty of every shadow banking affiliate and of the senior holding company would be required to agree to and sign a new covenant, a simple disclosure statement that acknowledges their unprotected status. A sample disclosure need be no more complex than this:
This two-part step should begin to remove the implicit TBTF subsidy provided to BHCs and their shadow banking operations. Entities other than commercial banks have inappropriately benefited from an implicit safety net. Our proposal promotes competition in light of market and regulatory discipline, replacing the status quo of subsidized and perverse incentives to take excessive risk.
As indicated earlier, some government intervention may be necessary to accelerate the imposition of effective market discipline. We believe that market forces should be relied upon as much as practicable. However, entrenched oligopoly forces, in combination with customer inertia, will likely only be overcome through government-sanctioned reorganization and restructuring of the TBTF BHCs. A subsidy once given is nearly impossible to take away. Thus, it appears we may need a push, using as little government intervention as possible to realign incentives, reestablish a competitive landscape and level the playing field.
Why Protect the 0.2 Percent?
My team at the Dallas Fed and I are confident this simple treatment to the complex problem and risks posed by TBTF institutions would be the most effective treatment. Think about it this way: At present, 99.8 percent of the banking organizations in America are subject to sufficient regulatory or shareholder/market discipline to contain the risk of misbehavior that could threaten the stability of the financial system. Zero-point-two percent are not. Their very existence threatens both economic and financial stability. Furthermore, to contain that risk, regulators and many small banks are tied up in regulatory and legal knots at an enormous direct cost to them and a large indirect cost to our economy. Zero-point-two percent. If the administration and the Congress could agree as recently as two weeks ago on legislation that affects 1 percent of taxpayers, surely it can process a solution that affects 0.2 percent of the nation's banks and is less complex and far more effective than Dodd–Frank.
Making a Time of 'Awful Moment' a Time of Promise
The time has come to change the decisionmaking paradigm. There should be more than the present two solutions: bailout or the end-of-the-economic-world-as-we-have-known-it. Both choices are unacceptable. The next financial crisis could cost more than two years of economic output, borne by millions of U.S. taxpayers. That horrendous cost must be weighed against the supposed benefits of maintaining the TBTF status quo. To us, the remedy is obvious: end TBTF now. End TBTF by reintroducing market forces instead of complex rules, and in so doing, level the playing field for all banking institutions.
I return to Patrick Henry. He noted that "it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us." We labor under the siren song of Dodd–Frank and the recent run-up in the pricing of TBTF bank stocks and credit, indulging in the illusion of hope that this complex legislation will end too big to fail and right the banking system. We shut our eyes to the painful truth that TBTF represents an ongoing danger not just to financial stability, but also to fair competition.
The Dallas Fed offers a modest but, we believe, far more effective fix to Dodd–Frank. This plan is not without its costs. But it is less costly than all the alternatives put forward and it seriously reduces the likelihood of another horrendous and costly financial crisis.
This need not be a time of "awful moment." It should instead be a time of promise. Treating the pathology of TBTF now would be a big step toward a more stable and prosperous economic system, one that relies on fundamental principles of capitalism rather than regulatory complexity and increasing government intervention.
Thank you.
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve System.
- See "Two Areas of Present Concern: the Economic Outlook and the Pathology of Too-Big-to-Fail (With Reference to Errol Flynn, Johnny Mercer, Gary Stern and Voltaire)," speech by Richard W. Fisher, July 23, 2009, and "Paradise Lost: Addressing 'Too Big to Fail' (With Reference to John Milton and Irving Kristol), speech by Richard W. Fisher, Nov. 19, 2009.
- See "Financial Stability: Traditional Banks Pave the Way," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Special Report, January 2013, www.dallasfed.org (note: the report will be available online at 9 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 17).
- See "The Blob That Ate Monetary Policy," by Richard W. Fisher and Harvey Rosenblum, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 27, 2009.
- See "The Dog and the Frisbee," by Andrew G. Haldane and Vasileios Madouros, Bank of England, paper presented at "The Changing Policy Landscape" symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Jackson Hole, Wyo., Aug. 30–Sept. 1, 2012.
- For a distinction between owner-controlled and management-controlled firms, see The Modern Corporation and Private Property, by Adolf A. Berle and Gardiner C. Means, New York: Macmillan, 1932.
- Several of the nation's largest banking companies received massive and extraordinary government assistance in 2008–09 but were never listed as failures in the FDIC database nor included on the list of "problem banks." Discipline without teeth probably leads the management of such institutions to "turn a deaf ear" to their supervisors. Rod Stewart said it well in his song "Young Turks": "But there ain't no point in talking, when there's nobody listening."
- See "Regulatory and Monetary Policies Meet 'Too Big to Fail'," by Harvey Rosenblum, Jessica J. Renier and Richard Alm, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Economic Letter, vol. 5, no. 3, 2010, Chart 1, p. 6. More specifically, Citigroup and BankAmerica Corp. experienced peak-to-trough declines in their common stock prices of over 96 percent.
- Bank for International Settlements 2011/2012 Annual Report, June 24, 2012, pp. 75–6.
- See "On Being the Right Size," speech by Andrew Haldane, Bank of England, at the 2012 Beesley Lectures, Institute of Economic Affairs' 22nd Annual Series, London, Oct. 25, 2012.
- For a review of shadow banking, see "Understanding the Risks Inherent in Shadow Banking: A Primer and Practical Lessons Learned," by David Luttrell, Harvey Rosenblum and Jackson Thies, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Staff Papers, no. 18, 2012.
- As an example, Sen. David Vitter and Sen. Sherrod Brown cite in their letter to the Government Accountability Office on Jan. 1, 2013, that "Bank of America moved $15 trillion in derivatives contracts from its broker-dealer, Merrill Lynch, to its insured depository institution affiliate in response to a credit downgrade. ... This move reportedly saved the bank $3.3 billion in additional collateral payments."
About the Author
Richard W. Fisher served as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from April 2005 until his retirement in March 2015.


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Wall-Mounted Kitchen Hutch Tutorial
Have you heard the term sandbox when talking about software development? It's the term used for the testing area where the engineers can "play" with their ideas before they go live to the public. Well, this little kitchen desk and hutch (kitchen command center) was my sandbox before I ordered our kitchen cabinets. It was my place to play with colors and style before making the very big step of ordering all the kitchen cabinets. When I had finished with the desk and hutch I was so thoroughly smitten with the colors that I had no problem ordering most of my kitchen cabinets in the same Sherwin Williams Copen Blue color!
Last week I showed you how I raised and transformed the Habitat ReStore desk into a counter-height desk. At the same time I bought the desk, I found a sheet of finish grade plywood that was an old folding table top. At $25 for the sheet, I brought it home and used it to create a wall-mounted hutch. After mounting it on the wall, I worked with my electrician to wire a lamp in the hutch. (Exterior wall mounted light from Lowe's.) The result is a charming cottage style desk and hutch where I keep our lives organized!
Are you ready to build your own wall-mounted hutch? Grab your tape measure and saw and let's get busy!
- 1 sheet finish grade plywood (or several 10″ maple or poplar boards)
- Jig saw
- 1 Fat corbel (or two narrow corbels/shelf brackets)
- Box of 1.5″ wood screws
- Tape measure
- Level
- Drill with drill bits
- Kreg Jig
- Sander
- Hand saw
- Clamps
- Wood glue
- Finish nails
- 1 Sheet of beadboard
- Hammer
- Pkg. of brad nails
- Pencil
Begin by cutting all your boards into the dimensions below. The two side boards should be 32″ tall before cutting the profile into the top.
To cut the profile into the top of the side pieces, trace your corbel onto the 32″ side board. (I turned the corbel on it's side for a wider profile.)
Cut out the profile with a jigsaw.
Trace the same profile onto the second side and cut with a jig saw.
You should have two sides with matching top profiles.
Dry fit all your boards together. Make any adjustments to size now. (I also made sure my lamp was going to fit in the hutch.)
At this point I decided that my corbels were too chunky for my hutch, so I set one up on the bandsaw and cut it in half.
The corbel was a little too tall for the bandsaw, so I finished the cut with a universal handsaw.
Sand both corbels (they will now be the shelf brackets for the hutch.)
Sand all the parts of your hutch until they are smooth. (Don't you just love when you find a random shot on your camera from when the hubster snuck up to take your picture when you looked like a psycho maniac sander? Yup.)
To assemble your hutch, begin by setting the top shelf into position against the sides. (I found it helpful to clamp the middle and bottom dividers to act as guides for the shelf placement.)
Check that the shelf is square.
Mark on the outside of the side where to drill pilot holes for the screws. Drill holes and drill a small countersink hole to recess the screw head.
Attach the top shelf and the top back piece with wood screws. Repeat the process for the other shelf.
A view of the hutch with the top shelf secured by screws:
To secure the middle shelf dividers, drill pilot holes and countersink four screws per divider as shown below:
The bottom two shelf dividers will be secured with pocket hole joinery (see details below). The two bottom shelves of the hutch are then secured with wood screws.
Use a kreg jig to drill pocket holes.
Attach the two divider boards to the underside of the middle shelf.
Glue wood plugs into the pocket holes. After the glue has dried, cut off the plugs with a hand saw.
Fill the ends of the plywood and any screw holes with wood putty.
After the putty dries, sand down everything until smooth.
The assembled hutch should look like this:
Cut a piece of beadboard to fit on the back of the hutch. Prime and paint the beadboard before attaching it. Prime and paint the hutch as well.
Run a bead of construction glue on the edges of the hutch shelves and dividers. Center the beadboard on the hutch and attach with small brad nails.
Prop the hutch up or have a helper hold it to determine the height you want to mount it.
Using a level, mark where you wish to line up the bottom of the hutch on the wall.
Drill pilot and countersink holes into the base of the brackets. Drill pilot holes at a 45 degree angle into the top of the brackets.
Attach the first bracket by drilling a long screw into the base of the bracket into a wall stud (or into a wall anchor.) Make sure the bracket is level.
Use a level to check before attaching the second bracket. Drive screws into the top of the brackets down at a 45 degree angle into the wall studs.
Hoist the hutch onto the wall and secure it by driving a few screws through the back of the hutch into wall studs.
If you want a wall mounted desk lamp, work with a licensed electrician to wire and install a junction box under the hutch.
Fill her up with a few magazine boxes, some flowers and you have one organized wall mounted hutch.
Do you like it? It's quite a sandbox project, don't you think?


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President Trump pushes tough immigration stance in Nevada appearance
LAS VEGAS — Eager to keep the Republican Party in control of the Senate, President Donald Trump pressed his tough anti-illegal immigration stance before supporters Saturday, saying "we have to be very strong" as he sought to help boost the candidacy of a one-time critic.
President Trump was in Las Vegas to assist Dean Heller, the only Republican U.S. senator seeking re-election in a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016. President Trump and Heller have papered over their once prickly relationship to present a united front in their shared goal of helping Republicans maintain, if not expand, their thin 51-49 majority in the Senate in November's congressional elections.
Heller was among the officials waiting on the sweltering airport tarmac to greet President Trump.
In remarks to several hundred often-cheering attendees at the Nevada GOP Convention, President Trump portrayed himself as the toughest against illegal immigration, saying at one point, "I think I got elected largely because we are strong on the border."
But he excluded any mention of the fact that a massive public outcry, including from members of his own family, forced him to reverse course this week and end the practice of separating children from families after they illegally cross the southern border into the U.S.
"On immigration, we have to be very strong," President Trump said, saying the immigration problem should have been solved years ago and blaming Democrats for causing it. "The fact is we need more Republicans because the Democrats are obstructionists."
President Trump said Republicans are for "strong borders, no crime" and called it a winning issue for the party. He alleged that Democrats are for "open borders and MS-13 all over our country," referring to the violent street gang, adding that stance is a losing issue for the opposition.
President Trump praised Heller for voting to cut taxes, and said U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen, Heller's Democratic opponent, would vote to raise them. He declared that he had a "great nickname" for Rosen before allowing the audience to egg him into saying it: "Wacky Jacky."
The president noted that Rosen was in Reno with Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren for the state Democratic Party convention. He again referred to Warren as "Pocahontas" to ridicule her claims of Native American ancestry.
"Wacky Jacky is campaigning with Pocahontas. Do you believe this?" President Trump said. "When you see that, that's not the senator you want."
Rosen responded quickly, first on Twitter, then saying in a statement that President Trump's visit was Heller's "reward" for his loyalty to President Trump.
"The President is attacking me with lies and petty insults because I'm not afraid to stand up to him," she said. "Dean Heller has been a rubber stamp for President Donald Trump in Washington, caving to the President's divisive agenda at Nevada's expense."
Outside the convention, at least 300 people protesting President Trump's policy of separating families at the southern border were stretched along a sidewalk outside the casino-hotel where the president met behind closed doors with supporters before addressing the Nevada GOP convention. His motorcade drove past a smaller group of people holding signs that said "Resist" and "History Has Its Eyes On You."
President Trump also held a separate event promoting tax cuts he signed into law six months ago.
Heller had renounced President Trump during the campaign as someone who "denigrates human beings" and suggested he wouldn't vote for President Trump, but later said he did. Heller also donated to charity a $2,000 donation he received from President Trump in 2015.
Last year, President Trump publicly scolded Heller for holding up the GOP's long-promised effort to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. He later repaired his relationship with Trump and helped deliver the rewrite of U.S. tax laws to Trump's desk.
President Trump acknowledged the relationship was "a little shaky in the beginning" but said "nobody fought harder to cut taxes than Dean Heller."
Heller was among a group of Republican senators this week who urged the Trump administration to end the practice of separating families. Heller made no mention of the issue Saturday.
The president also intervened in Nevada's Senate race in March and persuaded Heller's main challenger, Republican Danny Tarkanian, to step aside and run for a U.S. House seat instead. Heller has said he didn't ask for the favor.
President Trump said he would be back in Nevada "a lot" to campaign for Heller and other Republicans. He said a vote for Rosen is the same as voting for the Democratic leaders of Congress, Nancy Pelosi in the House and Chuck Schumer in the Senate, "and it's a vote for all of the problems they bring."
"I don't think you want that," he said.
President Trump was accompanied by former top campaign aides Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, now acting as outside advisers to the president. Days earlier, Lewandowski responded with "Wah-wah" during a Fox News Channel appearance after another panelist raised the case of a 10-year-old disabled girl who had been separated from her parents under President Trump's immigration policy.
Convention-goers lined up to have photos taken with Lewandowski before President Trump addressed the gathering.
The event marked President Trump's second campaign appearance this week. He was in Minnesota on Wednesday for Pete Stauber, a Republican congressional candidate running in a traditionally Democratic district.
President Trump is scheduled to stop in South Carolina on Monday to help boost Gov. Henry McMaster's fortunes on the eve of a Republican gubernatorial runoff. He is also scheduled to travel to North Dakota to campaign for Republican Kevin Cramer, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat seeking another six-year term in a state President Trump won by 36 percentage points in 2016.


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Meeting seeks new vision for future of Addison County
By KATHRYN FLAGG
ADDISON COUNTY — Talk of a congress and "community organizers" might bring to mind national politics — but for the planners behind this year's Addison County Conservation Congress, a daylong summit slated to take place later this month at Mount Abraham Union High School, those words ring true a little closer to home.
The Oct. 25 event, sponsored by the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACoRN) and Vermont Family Forests (VFF), aims to bring together anywhere between 150 and 300 county residents to dig into this year's theme: "Addison County in Transition: Visioning Our Community in 2020 and Mapping the Next Steps to Get There."
The day aims to do exactly what its title calls for: dream up a portrait of the county in 12 years, and begin work on the roadmap necessary to make that vision a reality.
That lofty goal is a departure from the country conservation congresses of the past, which started in 1992, explained David Brynn, a forester with VFF. After five annual meetings, organizers took a hiatus from the project — a break that ended up lasting 10 years.
Brynn and other planners revived the meetings last year. But according to Brynn, this year's congress signals a paradigm shift for the event.
"The first six were about finding controversial conservation issues that we could deliberate and argue about in a supportive setting," Brynn explained. "The idea was really to debate them and not necessarily to reach any consensus but to get things out in a respectful environment."
This year's congress, the seventh, focuses more on the human community, and the future Addison County's residents can create for themselves in the face of three major challenges: peak oil, climate change, and the financial crisis.
"This congress, we're really looking for common ground, a common vision, and we're trying to have more of a product at the end of the day," he said. "We are going to celebrate the fact that we have this wonderfully productive, resilient land underneath us, but we're looking at the people and how they are interacting with the land."
The congress will kick off with a few large-group activities — including a visualization of the community in 2020, led by Middlebury College professor and Bristol resident John Elder.
Then, participants will break into 12 rooms for focused discussions. Each group will be centered around a different topic, including food and farming, business and enterprise, community arts and culture, and health and wellness.
In a discussion on education and lifelong learning, North Ferrisburgh resident and retired teacher Barbara McKay will lead a conversation about how schooling will be affected by environmental changes.
"I'm generating what I hope are thought-provoking questions," said McKay. "How will curricula be different? Where will schools be?"
McKay said that she wants to emphasize the fact that there could be "terrific benefits" — that generating ideas about what individuals would like to see happen in the face of environmental and economic changes can bring a sense of excitement to looking toward the future instead of one of doom and gloom.
"I've been talking to some really innovative educators as I invite people to my room," McKay said. She's hoping that educators and parents who are "on the ground" will contribute to the discussion — that "some innovative, creative thinkers will come and participate."
Brynn emphasized that while community groups will certainly be represented at the congress, he hopes individuals without these group affiliations will come as well.
"Just come as a community member and jump right in," he said.
What will emerge at the end of the day is a vision statement from each room and three specific actions to be taken in the next year to help manifest that vision: one personal, one for a neighborhood or town, and one for Addison County.
Though Brynn said he hopes to see concrete actions come out of the congress, he admitted that he's not yet sure what shape those plans will take, or how they'll be executed in the future.
"In some ways, the idea is to come into the congress, celebrate the fact that there are a lot of very, very good and hopeful things happening here, (and) get sort of the sense that there's this larger thing occurring," he said. "The congress isn't an institution. It's a place where people are coming together."
More information and pre-registration for the congress can be found at www.familyforests.org.
The suggested donation is $10 for adults and $5 for students. A localvore lunch will be available for $8. The congress will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, at MAUHS from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants are encouraged to register in advance in order to ensure that they can join one of their first-choice discussion groups.


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While trust in advertising can lend itself favorably to consumers' goodwill toward a company, consumer willingness to take action as a result of exposure to a specific message is good proxy for how effective the advertising is. And, according to Nielsen's Trust In Advertising report, trust and action often go hand in hand.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising polled more than 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries to measure consumer sentiment on 19 forms of paid, earned and owned advertising formats.
Not surprisingly, word-of-mouth formats such as recommendations from family and friends and consumer opinions posted online prompted the highest levels of self-reported action among 84 percent and 70 percent of respondents, respectively. Roughly two-thirds of respondents indicated that they take action at least some of the time based on ads shown on TV (68%), branded websites (67%), ads in newspapers (65%), consumer-consented emails (65%), editorial content in newspapers (64%) and ads in magazines (62%).
For some ad formats, the take-action score even exceeded the trust score, suggesting that consumers may be willing to check out a product even if they didn't find the ad completely credible. While there is a sizeable difference between respondents who said they always take action and those who said they sometimes take action, the overall scores demonstrate that, broadly speaking, ads are prompting a reaction in consumers.
"Although online formats have the opportunity to engage more effectively with consumers, trust in these ads is growing as they become more pervasive and persuasive with creative that is provocative, smart and challenges the status quo," said Randall Beard, global head, Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen. "And customers are responding, as the findings show about half of respondents are taking action based on online ads. A customer's willingness to take action on an ad is a brand marketer's currency. While trust and action generally go hand in hand, even ad formats that are developing show they can be effective in getting consumers to the point of sale."
Trust and Action Levels Highest in LatAm, Lowest in Europe
Quantitatively, Latin Americans reported the highest levels of trust in 13 of 19 forms of advertising. The region also reported the highest percentage of respondents willing to take action on all 16 types of paid/owned advertisements and one of the three types of earned advertising formats (editorial content). Respondents in Asia-Pacific were the most willing to take action based on recommendations from friends and family and opinions posted online.
In addition to reporting the most skepticism across all forms of advertising, except consumer opinions posted online, European survey respondents were also least likely to take action based on ads.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising was conducted between February 18 and March 8, 2013, and polled more than 29,000 consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The sample has quotas based on age and sex for each country based on their Internet users, and is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers and has a maximum margin of error of ±0.6%. This Nielsen survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60 percent Internet penetration or 10 million online population for survey inclusion. The Nielsen Global Survey, which includes the Global Consumer Confidence Survey, was established in 2005.


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Our accredited training and certification programs in Engineering provide for customized learning at every level to allow each individual a role in improving their organization's processes. This multi-level approach fosters team unity and leads to each employee feeling more valued by the company.
The following Six Sigma Certification and Lean Six Sigma Certification in Engineering options are available for our online Six Sigma training:


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4 Reasons Online Dating Works for Expatriate Singles in Ankara
No matter who you ask, you will get the same answer: dating in 2016 is hard. For single expats in Ankara, dating is even harder. You have to deal with cultural barriers and boundaries, accommodate love with your new-found lifestyle, and face a lingering stigma.
But, it shouldn't be that way. With so many people trying to make a living in a different country, there are more expatriate singles looking for love than ever before. That's why, we here at Expatica Dating Ankara have created an expat dating community to help you find love abroad. If you are among the many expatriate singles in Ankara, you can join our network and connect with people that share your interests and passions.
Swipe Right on Expat Love
Online dating for expats isn't something new. You probably have a few friends who do it, and you've heard the stories of people who found love through an expat dating site. In spite of your curiosity, you haven't been able to convince yourself that online dating is worth the trouble. Until now…
Now, that you are starting a new life, you may have a difficult time finding people that share your dreams and interests and to whom you are physically attracted. You've learned the language, ate and drank at the local watering holes, and saw the side of the city that guidebooks miss. However, you are still single in Ankara and starting to think that you just don't click with the people here.
Before falling into despair, try setting up a profile on Expatica Dating Ankara, our online dating site for expatriate singles. Once your profile is ready, you can use our state-of-the-art matchmaking engine to find your perfect lover.
Still not convinced? Here are a few reasons online dating for expats works wonders.
Online Love Is More Likely to Last Than Traditional One
Can something as equivocal as everlasting love be found on an online dating site for expats? Scientists believe it can. According to one research from Chicago University, couples who met on an online dating site stood a greater chance than those who met in the real world. More than that, couples who'd first met the traditional way (face to face) admitted being less satisfied with their relationships than their online counterparts.
Not only do online dating sites for expats make finding love abroad easier, but your chances of finding your soulmate are higher there than meeting someone at work or in a bar.
So, what are you waiting for? Join now for free, and you too can find love in Ankara.
There Are More Potential Matches
If you are a single expat in Ankara, it's probably harder for you to meet people via the traditional route. That's where Expatica Dating Ankara can help. You can check thousands of online profiles from the comfort of your home. You don't have to talk with each person to find out their age, background, or interest, but can simply check their profile and see if they are a good match.
Tailor-Made Search
Another great advantage of using an online dating site to find love abroad is that you can customise your search. Do you prefer someone with a certain educational background? Do you want a non-smoker? Is there an age frame you prefer? You can select all these preferences and many others on our dating site for expat singles. That way, you can rest assured that you and your potential mate are on the same page.
Less Fear of Rejection
Being an expat has its perks and disadvantages. While some singles in Ankara are certainly attracted by your accent and your exotic vibe, others will find these things intimidating. They tend to see you as an intruder in their culture, so they exclude you from their social gatherings.
The fear of being rejected is powerful enough in a normal setting, but when you are a single expat in a Ankara, your anxiety can scale quickly.
Luckily, you don't have to go out and mingle with the locals, hoping that they won't reject you. You can create an account on Expatica Dating Ankara and look for people with whom you share common interests. Then, you can start sending messages to those you think are a good match.
The Ankara dating scene can be difficult for expatriate singles. There are so many things to factor in, such as the language and cultural differences or the prejudice most people have about expats. But, that doesn't mean you should give up on love.
Join Expatica Dating Ankara and let us prove to you that online dating for expats truly works.