Plenty of bad guys
Published: Wed, Nov. 19, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Wed, Nov. 19, 2008 02:23AM
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closeRegarding Mike Walden's Nov. 5 Point of View "A financial horror flick with no villains":
No villains? Let's look at this horrible situation again. Alan Greenspan and the power structure were so hung up on their free-market all-the-way ideology that they were blind or very intent on making a quick buck
Corporate books were so complicated that they couldn't be audited, and auditors were in bed with the corporate managers they were auditing.
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Banks and other corporations came up with schemes like hedge funds and mortgage bundling that allowed them to make a quick buck with no value added.
Top management people were allowed to add options to their pay, bonuses and golden parachutes.
Lending institutions made loans that only had $1 supporting $40 of risk.
Lending institutions pushed ARM loans with pre-payment penalties on the uneducated, knowing they could not afford the payment when it was raised less than a year later.
I could go on and on.
Yes, it was obvious at the time. If it was obvious to me, it must have been obvious to those participating in the dishonesty. Greenspan's job was to see the obvious and not hide behind the assumption that housing prices never fall.
C. Michael Kearsey
Durham
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