The $20 Billion Gamble: The Greatest Coup in Financial History

Blake Fleetwood, 11.17.2009

Former reporter for the New York Times and Daily News

Paulson made his bets in late 2006 just as the sub-prime mortgage markets were starting to weaken. His timing was impeccable, as was his luck.

The Moral Compass Missing From The Greatest Trade Ever

David Fiderer, 11.16.2009

Banker/Writer

As much as anything, what killed Lehman was Dick Fuld's emasculation of the risk management function, which served as a moral compass.

Ralph Cioffi: Off the Hook for a Long Time Pattern of Behavior

Janet Tavakoli, 11.11.2009

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance, Inc.

I worked at Bear Stearns in the late 1980s and remembered amiable newcomer Ralph Cioffi -- just acquitted -- to be Bear Stearns' most talented and successful salesman of mortgage-backed securities.

The Lloyd's Prayer

Tom Gregory, 11.12.2009

Actor, radio personality, and Tony nominated producer

Our Chairman, Who Art At Goldman, Blankfein Be Thy Name.

Goldman Sachs Doing "God's Work"?

Charles Gasparino, 11.09.2009

Author, The Sellout

The only thing worse than Goldman Sachs amassing billions in bonus money for its executives, based on various government subsidies and bailout measures, is listening to it try to explain it all away.

Breaking Up the Big Banks, and Why Congress Won't Do It

Robert Reich, 10.27.2009

Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley

Two ideas are floating around Washington regarding how to handle 'too big to fail' banks, but only one is supported by the Treasury and the White House. Unfortunately, it's the wrong one.

Wall Street Is More of a Threat to Obama's Domestic Agenda than Afghanistan

Joseph A. Palermo, 10.20.2009

Author/Associate Professor of History

Whatever Obama decides to do in Afghanistan is of little consequence compared to Wall Street's ongoing "plutonomy."

Time to Stop the Regulatory Circus and to Steer the Ship to Safe Ground

Georges Ugeux, 10.08.2009

Chairman and CEO, Galileo Global Advisors

The real issue for regulators around the globe is a serious definition of the financial world we want to live in. The current focus nearly exclusively on the banking sector could cause authorities to miss the broader picture.

The Big Secret Wealthy Investors Don't Want You to Know

Dan Solin, 10.06.2009

Author of the bestseller, The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read

Wealthy investors can be enticed to buy "alternative investments" like hedge funds and private equity deals. How is that working for them? Not well.

Who Duped Rolling Stone Gonzo Reporter Matt Taibbi?

Diane Tucker, 10.11.2009

Writer/producer/director living in Washington DC

Taibbi, Rolling Stone magazine's teen heartthrob, became a sensation last month after calling Goldman Sachs "a giant vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity."

Regulating Systemic Risk and Banker Compensation Will Not Fix What Is Broken on Wall Street

David Paul, 10.03.2009

President of the Fiscal Strategies Group

The incentives to make big bets and take big risks has survived, but without the accountability. Today, the US Treasury and the Fed are trying to hold the pieces together. But why?

Two Years Later and None the Wiser

Garrett Johnson, 08.30.2009

Freelance writer

These bailouts, designed to prop up the financial institutions that caused this mess are a fool's hope.

The Mystery of the Missing Unemployed Man: On Jobs and Banks

Barbara Garson, 08.13.2009

People are speculating on derivatives and derivatives of derivatives because there's no action in the real world.

The Boston Consulting Group Caused the Recession

Charles H. Green, 08.12.2009

Author of Trust-based Selling, co-author The Trusted Advisor, speaker, management consultant

This ideology didn't just happen. It was four decades in the making. Sachs and Stanley refined it; private equity and financial engineers distilled it; Merril, Stearns and Joe the Plumber got drunk on it.

Bear Stearns Has Learned Nothing

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, 07.25.2009

Author of Shalom in the Home

We must take action to stop the greed and corruption on Wall Street.

Who Can we Bank on as Crisis Gets Worse?

Danny Schechter, 07.13.2009

Editor, Mediahannel.org

Washington seems tethered at the hip to Wall Street and continues to do its bidding. Obama wants to give us confidence, but the most trenchant critics believe a total collapse is in the offing.

The Case of the Missing Stock Data

Michael Martin, 07.04.2009

Blogger at MartinKronicle and Commodity Lecturer for the CFA Institute.

With the demolition of Wall Street firms, something important is disappearing too: their share price data from the stock exchanges.

Desperate Housewives

Rob Fishman, 05.18.2009

Associate Blog Editor

Scarsdale has always traded on its education system -- and hence, its values. Then what of the upsurge in thievery, crimes that make Teri Hatcher and co.'s seem petty by comparison?

Expert As Frenemy: Notes On The New Yorker Summit

Sanjay Khanna, 06.13.2009

Climate-change writer and journalist

Human nature leads us to turn towards expert-dependent disciplines to save us from ourselves but to what extent are experts -- and our own competence -- the frenemy in our midst?

Weekly Audit: Bank Execs Looting Customers, Shareholders and Taxpayers Economy NewsLadder

The Media Consortium, 05.22.2009

Network of Leading Progressive Independent Journalism Organizations

by Zach Carter, TMC MediaWire Blogger Some of the largest U.S. banks may be on the ropes these days, but the disparity between the plight of financ...

KPMG Has A $1 Billion Problem At New Century

Francine McKenna, 05.09.2009

Author of blog re: The Auditors - The role of audit industry in global capital markets.

KPMG is being sued for $1bn by the liquidators of New Century, the collapsed subprime lender, in the first big case against an auditor arising from th...