Friday 10 July 2009

It seems to be too late for that, now

After Bernie Madoff's trial and life sentence, it seems that the discussion on personal responsibility for the crisis has vanished, and the only thing still talked about are occasional shocking figures of (un)employment and one company after another reporting to let go employees. But hey, we're still doing OK, so why worry, right?
"As Pecora relentlessly grilled the most famous names in finance, the nation relived the 1920s boom in a collective act of national remembrance. The hearings started in a modest committee room, but as the public was swept up in the drama, they shifted to a stately caucus room, illuminated by chandeliers and flashbulbs. As it gained momentum, the inquiry expanded until it shined a searchlight into every murky corner of Wall Street. Pecora exposed a stock market manipulated by speculators to the detriment of small investors who could suddenly attach names and faces to their losses.
Bankers had been demigods in the 1920s, their doings followed avidly, their market commentary quoted with reverence. They had inhabited a clubby world of chauffeured limousines and wood-paneled rooms, insulated from ordinary Americans. Now Pecora defrocked these high priests, making them seem small and shabby. "

NY Times: Where Is Our Ferdinand Pecora?, January 5, 2009

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