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A Broken Financial World
Suburban Guerrilla —
... products that in turn fueled the revenues of Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
These oligopolies, which are actually sanctioned by the S.E.C., didn’t merely do their jobs badly. They didn’t simply miss a few calls here and there. In pursuit of their own short-term earnings, they did exactly the opposite of what they were meant to do: rather than expose financial risk they systematically disguised it.
This is a fascinating piece. Go read the rest.
How Do We Fix A Broken Financial World?
Crooks and Liars —
... This is a fascinating piece, with lots of advice about what needs to be fixed to restore confidence in the financial system. (As you may have guessed, nothing substantive has been done yet.) Go read the rest. ...
Taking Our Medicine
Political Animal —
... . It's very much worth reading. One point in particular jumped out at me: "THERE are other things the Treasury might do when a major financial firm assumed to be "too big to fail" comes knocking, asking for free money. Here's one: Let it fail. Not as chaotically as Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. If a failing firm is deemed "too big" for that honor, then it should be explicitly nationalized, both to limit its effect on other firms and to protect the guts of the system. Its shareholders should be wiped out, and its management replaced. Its valuable parts should be sold ...
Taking Our Medicine
Obsidian Wings —
... by hilzoy
The NYT has a long piece on the financial meltdown in two parts: 1, 2. It's very much worth reading. One point in particular jumped out at me:
"THERE are other things the Treasury might do when a major financial firm assumed to be "too big to fail" comes knocking, asking for free money. Here's one: Let it fail.
Not as chaotically as Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. If a failing firm is deemed "too big" for that honor, then it should be explicitly nationalized, both to limit its ...
Lewis and Einhorn.
INSTAPUTZ —
There's been a lot written about Michael Lewis and David Einhorn's pair of pieces in The New York Times. The praise is deserved; their work is excellent. My problem is on a more meta, ethical level, deriving entirely from this note: Michael Lewis, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and the author of “Liar’s Poker,” is writing a book about the collapse of Wall Street. David Einhorn is the president of Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund, and the author of “Fooling Some of the People All of the Time.” Investment accounts ...
