Daily Archives: April 16, 2010

The SEC’s Case Against Goldman Sachs, Explained (Planet Money) 1

This entry was posted in RichardH's Posts on by

Planet Money’s 16 April 2010 piece, The SEC’s Case Against Goldman Sachs, Explained, briefly summarizes the SEC’s contention that a hedge fund (Paulson & Co) “wanted to bet against the housing market. It talked to Goldman about putting together a CDO full of mortgage-related assets that Paulson thought were likely to lose value. Paulson’s plan was to bet against the CDO, so it would profit if the CDO lost value.” “Goldman didn’t tell people who invested in the CDO about the hedge fund’s role” and intentions.

CDO stands for Collateralized Debt Obligation.

On 17 April 2010, Louise Story and Gretchen Morgenson (NYT) lay out some more detail in U.S. Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud in Mortgage Deal.

-RichardH

Mitch McConnell and Bank Bailouts

This entry was posted in SteveG's Posts on by

Follow this link to the Paul Krugman piece in the New York Times.

Krugman’s last sentence sums up the piece nicely:

So don’t be fooled. When Mitch McConnell denounces big bank bailouts, what he’s really trying to do is give the bankers everything they want.

As for whether or not we ought to just let banks fail, he says:

So it’s crucial to avoid disorderly bank collapses, just as it’s crucial to avoid out-of-control urban fires.