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I know I'm detracting a bit from my theme from this week, but I think its worth it.
This article perfectly correlates with what we've been talking about in our class. Years after the crisis, top figures (CEOs and what not) that essentially caused the crisis and banked on it have still not been prosecuted. Even "as the crisis was starting to deepen in the spring of 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation scaled back a plan to assign more field agents to investigate mortgage fraud. That summer, the Justice Department also rejected calls to create a task force devoted to mortgage-related investigations, leaving these complex cases understaffed and poorly funded, and only much later established a more general financial crimes task force." Ridiculous.
The (somewhat lengthy) article even sites examples; "Merrill Lynch, for example, understated its risky mortgage holdings by hundreds of billions of dollars. And public comments made by Angelo R. Mozilo, the chief executive of Countrywide Financial, praising his mortgage company’s practices were at odds with derisive statements he made privately in e-mails as he sold shares; the stock subsequently fell sharply as the company’s losses became known."
Check it out and post some thoughts. Think prosecutions will EVER happen? I don't...
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Interesting article, Michelle. Like you, I doubt prosecutions will ever happen.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if there was a big enough political contrubution, someone would talk about it. If not, then forget it.
ReplyDeletethanks for the article. I thought it was really fascinating.
ReplyDeleteGood article, Michelle. It relates really well. My bets are on prosecutions never taking place. I'll be interested to read the book '13 bankers' and talk about this article then.
ReplyDeleteLongest article EVER? lol
ReplyDeleteI agree with Beth. Wall Street and Washington are too interconnected for any meaningful bankers to be prosecuted seriously. Also, in some situations, the government was complicit in actions that led to the financial crisis, so it's kind of like biting the hand that feeds you.
Going to my short post for the week here and say...
ReplyDeleteINTERESTING.
I think everyone agrees that if no one has been prosecuted yet, then nobody will ever get prosecuted. It also ties in with our topic on how major companies are influencing politics so I doubt any of these companies giving millions of dollars to the government would be prosecuted against. It's sad that many of the people that caused this financial crisis are still living lavishly and have gotten jobs with our current government. Very long article but a good one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Manor. Prosecution has not happened yet, and attempts at prosecution have been avoided or half-assed. Therefore, I think it is highly unlikely that any of these companies will be held accountable for their actions.
ReplyDeleteGood article Michelle.
I think its a concensus that we all think the prosecutions won't happen. Good article!
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to agree with the rest of you, prosecution is, and will continue to be, unlikely. It is unlikely because stupidity and participating in a financial mania aren't crimes. What happened in 2007-09 is a stain on many people's careers. The Bear Stearns hedge fund managers who were taken to trial for fraud in 2009 were acquitted by a jury. The fact is, the government isn't going to win too many cases of this sort.
ReplyDelete