“The Senate’s Muckraker” Against a backdrop of epic Wall Street corruption and captured regulators — just look at the resumes of the top 20 SEC officials, starting with Mary Jo White, nominated by Barack Obama to lead the agency — it’s easy to forget that there also good guys out there. Former Senator Ted Kaufman,...Read More
To Financial Giants, Everything is a “Micro-Loan” Three years ago, the federal government used tens of billions in taxpayer dollars to save the banking system. Now, at this dire economic moment, the country needs the banks to return the favor. –Joe Nocera, “Mr. Banker, Can You Spare a Dime?”; The New York Times (9/10/2011) It’s...Read More
The Age of Regulatory Capture Millions of Americans lose their homes and jobs, Wall Street devours trillions in government bailouts while its leaders pay themselves billions . . . and there’s still no discussion of meaningful financial reform? Incredible. Here’s a quote from one of the best Op-Ed piece I’ve seen this Summer, contrasting the...Read More
The Virtue of Playing Leapfrog [Note to readers: more real estate-related posts to come . . . this is only a temporary departure. Or, if you missed it, check out the (too?) long weekend post discussing the Southwest light rail line, “How Close is Too Close?”] # # # # # # # # #...Read More
Regulatory Capture — Exhibit A Goldman Sachs made out on the housing bubble twice: it f—ed the investors who bought their horsesh-t CDO’s by betting against its own crappy products, then it turned around and f—ed the taxpayer by making him pay off those same bets. –Matt Taibbi, “The Great American Bubble Machine”; Rolling Stone...Read More
