There Oughta Be A Law!

[xthread]

In another venue, someone argued 'the people who caused the mortgage meltdown be in jail?!'

I don't know if any of you, dear readers, happen to hold that view, but, if you do, would you be so kind as to tell me, in general terms, who you think ought to be in jail, and in specific terms, what you think they should be in jail for?

Let me note two important things at the outset: remember that lying to people is usually only against the law if you're doing so to cheat them out of money (which is why Bernie Madoff is in jail), and it's unconstitutional to make laws that make something retroactively illegal.

Got your moral outrage ready? Go!

Comments

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I don't think there are good answers out there about why Lehman was allowed to crash (with naked shorts contributing, no less; were any of those prosecuted?) and no-one else. I suspect there never will be any investigation into this. I have no theories or suspicions, but it would not surprise me in the least if there was illegal collusion and perhaps big payoffs involved at CEO and Treasury Secretary levels.

[xthread.livejournal.com]

Go pick up a copy of Too Big To Fail (http://www.amazon.com/Too-Big-Fail-Washington-System---/dp/B004HEXSM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298350522&sr=8-1), an extremely good documentary of exactly why Lehman was allowed to fail and nobody else was.

[xthread.livejournal.com]

I'd also recommend the recently released reports on the causes of the financial crises (both the Dem and Conservative reports), but I haven't finished reading them yet, and I try not to recommend things I haven't read to people.

(Note: with one exception - the conservative report by the 'It was all Fannie and Freddie's fault!' guy? That we can reasonably use for kindling, he's nuts. Or, well, ok, he's seeing 'this causal factor was one of a number which led to this horrible event,' and choosing to report 'this factor caused this horrible event.' Which is importantly over-stating reality)