This a long, but extraordinary interview with Marsal on CNBC's Squawk Box from Tuesday. AIG, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, leverage, details on Lehman's balance sheet, the economy. Pretty much everything is up for discussion:
- "One of my partners said yesterday that we are going to call this phase the "extend and pretend" phase in our economy. Which is you extend someone's maturity - because they are going to default - and you pretend that business will come back or that leverage factor is going to come back."
- "That is the phases we are in right now. Everyone is trying to buy time, as opposed to dealing with the leverage, they are trying to buy time. Whether you are a banker or a company, they are all trying to buy time. I don't see the leverage coming back, and I don't see the consumption of good and services coming back."
