'The Big Short,' By Michael Lewis: Why Politicians Love This Bestseller

politico.com:

Politicians have been known to latch onto books -- Amity Shlaes's "The Forgotten Man" was a must-read among Republicans last year during the bailouts -- but few works have shaped a legislative debate quite like Lewis's story about investors who made a killing by betting on the housing crash.

For a lot of Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- the book has created a kind of defining counternarrative of the economic collapse.

And it's given Lewis rock star status among some on Capitol Hill.

Read the whole story: politico.com

Comments

[tuberider]

09:55 PM on 06/02/2010

Michael is so conversant with the mentality of corruption and double-speak! I'll bet he went to Harvard!

[VegasWolf]

12:32 PM on 06/02/2010

Mike's points in the article were salient as usual.

In particular, I love the proposed idea of open, public exchanges for derivatives from the fixed-income side of the house that would work in the same way to reduce cost and provide access to and transparency in pricing securities similar to that which has already taken place on the equities side of the house.

Since Capitol Hill is owned by the wealthy corporations ( humm, maybe it should be called Capital Hill ) no meaningful reform is likely.

Since there is no real regulation likely, then these guys will blow up the world again simply due to greed.

But an open exchange on say credit default swaps would help me hedge my assets when these guys do blow the world up again.

[T4]

10:51 PM on 06/01/2010

You have those to be pitied and then you have the pitiful - and this case dem pol qualify. It takes a book with a decent narrative that deals only partially with our house of cards fiancial infrastructure to get their attention. They have spent 2 years literally wrecking the economy and destroying everything built by millions of americans by enacting Obama's $2 trillion in bank giveaways and the didn;t know what they signed on too???? and still don't - I thought they stupid, witless idiots but this surpasses even my lowest opinions of their capabilities. They still don't get it - the banks were/are the bad guys and they gave them the money to get away with it - they did it all but the suddenly brilliant people in congress still don';t get it. Vote out all incumbents in 2010

[mamababa]

09:39 PM on 06/01/2010

Because it's premasticated to the point that even politicians can understand it?

[schatsie]

07:30 AM on 06/02/2010

Read Shock Doctrine before you say that....These neo cons have had their way with all the world except for China and the Euro area...

[themodernleader]

09:29 PM on 06/01/2010

In Meet the Press, Tom Friedman states that Obama has dumped the energy bill, already passed the House for the immigration issue. If so, we will have no comprehensive job creating program with long term consequences in the first two years of Obama's Administration. Obama is metastasizing into another Herbert Hoover. We are a failing governing enterprise. Our Nation is in danger. Where is sagacious, courageous leadership anywhere in this self-blinded country?

[T4]

10:53 PM on 06/01/2010

They got their billions in bonuses from Obama and left to party in the hamptons with the Obama defition of how to reward failure

[themodernleader]

09:05 PM on 06/01/2010

The President must be curious about our dangerous financial system. Otherwise, his corrupt subordinates will dictate a banking solution that sacrifices a national solution.

[schatsie]

07:31 AM on 06/02/2010

his corrupt subordinates have dictated a banking solution that sacrifices a NATION.....

[BigBureaucracy]

02:37 PM on 06/01/2010

Here is a plan by Conservative British think-tank for erasing the UK debt overnight:

The government printing approx £850 billion in cash first and injecting it directly into the vaults of the banks and into the checking accounts of individuals.

Wipe from the bank books all the demand-deposits/IOUs as banks would not owe you money anymore.

The banks suddenly be £850 billion better off.

The government can now get the extra money from the banks and put it into Mutuals, which would then immediately pay off the national debt.

Don't tell me I am crazy - tell the pinheads that created the plan here:

http://www.bigbureaucracy.com/?p=1145

[binksmom85]

03:55 PM on 06/01/2010

the idea is "social credit" and it's been around for decades

[BigBureaucracy]

04:50 PM on 06/01/2010

But is it a valid idea? Looks like just printing money

[schatsie]

07:32 AM on 06/02/2010

right we tried that here only all the MONEY went to the banks....imagine that....

[mamacat]

02:17 PM on 06/01/2010

On a related issue, the German online version of Der Spiegel (available in English, for free), has an article about another problem which they claim the American banking houses are causing, which has the potential to do even more damage than the housing bubble did.
They are reporting that the banking houses are the cause of the 100% climb in prices for iron ore in the past year, and that they are manipulating the market for nothing more than short term profits for themselves - again. Der Spiegel did not name the banking houses behind this latest threat to the global economy, but I can't help but wonder if Goldman Sachs is at it again.

[schatsie]

07:34 AM on 06/02/2010

Speculation is what the wealthy do well and why they should be rewarded with tax rates that are pitiful is beyond me...and that is why I am in favor of a cap on Capital Gains, just like we have a cap on Social Security.....that is no capital gains rates for incomes over the capped income for Social Security....

[AyeChart]

01:44 PM on 06/01/2010

Learning from mistakes is a good idea: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264641145227612.html

The piece is about the GM debacle. One major lesson is that it is important to have the right people with a stake in the company in control. That's one reason we have to get the current congress and the Obama administration out as soon as possible. They are like GM's CEO and board of directors who drove the company to ruin.

[binksmom85]

04:00 PM on 06/01/2010

that economic car was already on the side of the road, broken down then stripped by looters before Obama took the oath of office. Now if you will concentrate on the fact that Geithner, Paulson and Bernanke were the folks behind Bush's bailout, that Geithner's Fed NY took specific actions before the crash that benefitted *somebodies*. We the people own 50-85% of all outstanding stock of everything on the Exchange, it is in big and small retirement accounts, that have been systematically stripped of value over the last 2 decades by increases in exec payroll. The execs now take AVG 25% of net profit,we just watched GS take 62% first qrtr for BONUSES

[mikerobjohn]

12:59 PM on 06/01/2010

The American financial system is the opposite of what GOD says about finances but yet the people in the country will swear that this is a GODLY country.

[AyeChart]

01:44 PM on 06/01/2010

What are you talking about?

[mamacat]

06:07 PM on 06/01/2010

I get the impression that Wall St. is controlled by and run for the benefit of those who would have flown the jolly roger and worn an eye patch a few hundred years ago.
With the help of their friends in the GOP, the pirates have taken over the economy.

[mrspiffy]

11:47 AM on 06/01/2010

They'll probably have their staff read it for them.
http://yieldpig.blogspot.com/

[xsm941f]

11:30 AM on 06/01/2010

I've worked in the investment industry for 25 years. Lewis' NYT article is one of the best (and funniest) I've read. Spot on. We have made it seem only the "professionals" can understand derivatives, swaps, etc. when in reality its not that complicated at all. Likewise, liquidity and markets. Ain't that hard to understand so regulate it already.

[kellysmalltowngirl]

04:30 PM on 06/01/2010

Read Lewis's book. His research reveals that even the professionals didn't understand what they were doing nor its consequences. It's a great read, too. Funny!

[Kevin Atlanta]

11:11 AM on 06/01/2010

There is no Financial Reform. This is as much a give away to the Banksters and Wall Street as the Bush Bail-outs.
Audit and End the FED
Break up the "too big to fail."
Restore Glass-Steagall.
Bring Bush/Cheney to indictment and trial for their war crimes and treason.

[sticky29]

11:48 AM on 06/01/2010

The Bush/Cheney cell, is it right next to the Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Holder cell? That HCR bill that 70 % of Americans did NOT want, that was good for the country how?? The greed on Wall Street will never go away. They have these politicians in their back pockets. We all know that. We need a leader, any leader, who is just going to do the right thing, not worried about doing the politcally correct thing or about being reelected.

[binksmom85]

03:51 PM on 06/01/2010

no one gets elected without being deep in someone's pocket, that's why we need serious election reform

[coolaid8]

10:56 AM on 06/01/2010

When they're done reading that, maybe they should read the Health Care "Reform" bill they passed.

[Truelee]

10:32 AM on 06/01/2010

The lack of financial reform is a clear indication of who are directly behind the financial crisis: Wall Street and Congress.