It is well worth people's time here to read all five pages of this op-ed. Don't be put off too much by the fact it was printed by the NYT. If someone wants to slam the piece, he should at least read it first.
The NY Times has been publishing some good pieces on the Wall St machine that lead us to this debacle. This one is co written by Michael Lewis who wrote “Liar’s Poker” 20 years ago about his wild days working for Salmon Brothers
Those excesses were nothing compared to what Wall St did since 9-11-2001 ....... The gates were thrown open and easy money flooded out. We had an asset inflation in real estate, commodities and stocks and Wall St figured out how to make themselves billions in bonuses by making selling derivatives based on eternally rising asset values. Equity buyout firms like scummy Cerberus thrived on easy money
The Fed’s easy money policy did not show up much in consumer prices except in energy. Cheap imports from China etc tamped down consumer inflation
I’d love to read it, but they’ve got a sign up page - and I don’t want to sign up for the NYTs even if it’s free. Sad, because from what I can tell - this one is worth reading. My resistance is weakening...