Pretty solid CNBC video discussing Ken Lewis, Henry Paulson and the Bank of America takeover of Merrill Lynch. They pose the question: who's the bad guy?
Ken Lewis is guilty of having the most-hated face in all of failed banking. He should be indicted for ugly. And for insulting my intelligence everytime he's on TV. His purchases of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, both at substantal premiums, makes him the stupidest CEO in recent memory.
Paulson is guilty of leading the effort to have the SEC grant Wall Street an exemption to the leverage cap in 2004. Paulson is also the most likely to trash your house, screw your wife and steal your job while you are on vacation. Ask Corzine.
Bernanke is guilty of turning the Fed's balance sheet into a cesspool. Bloomberg and Mark Pittman reported today that the Fed will still NOT release details on the more than $2 trillion in loans it has made to the various and sundry.
And all three are guilty of not anticipating the global financial crisis. Once it began to show itself in 2007, each miscalculated the severity. Contained. Sub-prime only. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Hey geniuses, when a condo in Santa Monica goes from $300k in 2000 to $1.1M in 2006, then we are gonna have banks with problems. Capisce, you friggin' idiots.
Let's see what you got.
