The Guy Who Gave Living With Your Parents* a REALLY Bad Name “Stupidity isn’t a crime. Still, it would be interesting to know who, at this particular poker table, on this particular day, was the fool.” –Michael Lewis, “Crash Boys“; Bloomberg View (4/24/2015) From what I know and read, I think it’s as likely that...Read More
The $6.4 Trillion Question: Why Not?? I’m sure Eric Holder accomplished lots of other things during his six-year tenure as (now-outgoing) U.S. Attorney General. Unfortunately, holding Wall Street accountable for its egregious — and frequently criminal — conduct at the heart of The 2008 Financial Crash most certainly wasn’t one of them. The really hard...Read More
. . . & By Implication, Modern America “When you see others . . . doing stuff at the expense of the broader society, your first reaction, at least early in your career, might be to call them out, but your considered reaction will be to keep mum about it. And when you see people making...Read More
Needed: Financial Nuremberg Trials “Citigroup and U.S. Reach $7 Billion Mortgage Settlement.” —headline; NYT (7/14/14). “BNP Paribas SA agreed to pay nearly $9 billion and plead guilty to crimes for violating U.S. sanctions, an unprecedented settlement that includes a year-long ban on the French bank’s ability to conduct certain U.S. dollar transactions. –“BNP Paribas Draws...Read More
The Cost(s) of Corporate “Free Speech” In this era of increasingly unfettered corporate power, it’s worth remembering that — at least once upon a time — corporate charters were issued by the sovereign (king, actually), to a relative handful of entities, and conferred extremely narrow rights and powers. Like, the right to conduct a specific...Read More
Oh, THAT SEC The Wall Street Journal headline (above) earlier this week was certainly encouraging. Unfortunately, the accompanying article appeared in the Journal’s sports section, not finance. So, while the Southeastern Conference’s football teams may be on the rise, the Securities and Exchange Commission is still very much a door mat, at least as far...Read More
