One of our Daily Reads this morning is a piece by John Carney on the prosecution of Lehman executives. My immediate thought when I started reading is exactly what Carney reaches as a conclusion: it doesn’t matter whether there is any justice to a prosecution of Dick Fuld, because the government can and will aggressively punish failure. That’s what happened to Mike Milken and Martha Stewart, who didn’t deserve what they got, as well as Ivan Boesky and Jeff Skilling, who did.
I don’t entirely buy that Lehman’s stock would have been lower if the… well, the improprieties potentially bordering on fraud were widely known. Fuld was an a-hole who dissed everyone on the street, as well as common sense. He had a target on his back even before Bear fell, and afterward the talk was immediately about LEH. If Fuld had reached out and lined up outside capital or a strategic partner as late as the summer of 08, he might have survived. But he was too hardheaded to let himself get boned, which is what would have to have happened.
December 11, 2009 – 10:09 pm
It’s amazing how the amount of political acrimony in the system remains the same, regardless of the size of the problem. And that’s the real reason why policymakers don’t pop bubbles preemptively.
October 5, 2009 – 9:01 am
Today’s podcast focuses on the controversy over naked short selling, prompted mostly by leftist Rolling Stone reporter Matt Taibbi’s coverage of the financial crisis, and whether or not the practice is actually to blame for a whole slew of terrible things — including the demise of Lehman Brothers.
By Francis Cianfrocca
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Posted in Features, Market, Podcasts
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Also tagged Coffee and Markets, financial crisis, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, John Carney, Lehman Brothers, Matt Taibbi, Naked Short Selling, Podcast, Podcasts
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September 15, 2009 – 9:32 am
There is indeed an argument to be made that extraordinary times require extraordinary powers, but these guys never stepped over the line. (They did step right up to it.) This is a CRUCIAL point, because it means this is still a democracy.
September 1, 2009 – 8:45 am
Francis Cianfrocca joins Ben Domenech for the Tuesday, September 1st edition of Coffee & Markets. Today’s podcast focuses on Todd Purdum’s Vanity Fair profile of Henry Paulson, which contains some fascinating anecdotes about Paulson’s time during the financial crisis.
By Francis Cianfrocca
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Posted in Features, Podcasts, Politics
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Also tagged China, Coffee and Markets, Fannie Mae, financial crisis, Freddie Mac, Hank Paulson, Henry Paulson, Lehman Bros, Podcast, Podcasts
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Anger over the AIG bonuses has opened the way for Congress and the Administration to take actions that will severely threaten the free exercise of contracts and agreements. Yet the actual impact of those bonuses in financial terms is almost insignificant. The real AIG scandal? The Obama Administration’s response.
