Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5643|London, England

Ilocano wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

I say giant crap game because the notional value of derivatives is in the hundreds of trillions of dollars.
No-one is forced to play, Goldman Sachs, AIG thought they were clever and were going to win.
Non one was forced to play, but the playground they played on affected the entire US economy.
Blown way out of proportion. I think we would've been better off in the long run if the bailouts hadn't occurred and more of the firms had tanked. They didn't learn any lessons other than the government will always come to the rescue if they scream loudly enough and talk enough doom.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
Phrozenbot
Member
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Ilocano wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

I say giant crap game because the notional value of derivatives is in the hundreds of trillions of dollars.
No-one is forced to play, Goldman Sachs, AIG thought they were clever and were going to win.
Non one was forced to play, but the playground they played on affected the entire US economy.
Ha, you act like they securitized all our lives in the many forms of derivatives and sold them to the highest bidder (the biggest sucker) throughout the world. They didn't. The excess on Wall Street existed on Main Street as well, hence why the broader economy suffered.

I agree with John that our economy would be better off without the bailouts.
Ilocano
buuuurrrrrrppppp.......
+341|6952

  I agree with both of you.  No one should have been big enough to not fail.  They took the risks, they should have taken the losses as well.  F*ck the bailouts.

Greed was everywhere.  When the ratings agencies joined the fun, everyone and his grandmother wanted in, since for the regular investor, including the pension funds, the rating agencies where there go to.  Easy credit, Liar loans, Home ownership mandate, etc.  So many factors contributed.  A perfect storm of greed.
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5643|London, England

Ilocano wrote:

  I agree with both of you.  No one should have been big enough to not fail.  They took the risks, they should have taken the losses as well.  F*ck the bailouts.

Greed was everywhere.  When the ratings agencies joined the fun, everyone and his grandmother wanted in, since for the regular investor, including the pension funds, the rating agencies where there go to.  Easy credit, Liar loans, Home ownership mandate, etc.  So many factors contributed.  A perfect storm of greed.
To be fair, the ratings agencies were swamped. Couple this with the fact that they don't exactly attract top talent and its a recipe for disaster putting them in any form of authoritative stance. They are the DMV workers of Wall Street. Cheap suits, low pay, low motivation, the works.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,816|6391|eXtreme to the maX

Ilocano wrote:

Non one was forced to play, but the playground they played on affected the entire US economy.
OK, but it's like a Casino complaining and demanding govt support when a punter wins big.
So regulate them or let them fail, one of the two.

JG wrote:

To be fair, the ratings agencies were swamped. Couple this with the fact that they don't exactly attract top talent and its a recipe for disaster putting them in any form of authoritative stance. They are the DMV workers of Wall Street. Cheap suits, low pay, low motivation, the works.
So no-one should attach any weight to their so-called 'ratings', they're uniformly rubbish across multiple industries.

Last edited by Dilbert_X (2010-08-03 20:54:08)

Fuck Israel
Jay
Bork! Bork! Bork!
+2,006|5643|London, England

Dilbert_X wrote:

Ilocano wrote:

Non one was forced to play, but the playground they played on affected the entire US economy.
OK, but it's like a Casino complaining and demanding govt support when a punter wins big.
So regulate them or let them fail, one of the two.

JG wrote:

To be fair, the ratings agencies were swamped. Couple this with the fact that they don't exactly attract top talent and its a recipe for disaster putting them in any form of authoritative stance. They are the DMV workers of Wall Street. Cheap suits, low pay, low motivation, the works.
So no-one should attach any weight to their so-called 'ratings', they're uniformly rubbish across multiple industries.
I don't disagree with either point.
"Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough."
-Frederick Bastiat

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