Here are both of my talks delivered at the April 28 conference on the causes of the 2008 financial crisis. The first talk provided a historical overview for the crisis, not beginning in 2007 or 2006, but actually in the 1930's. The second talk walks through a plethora of things I believe did not cause the crisis (contrary to popular assertion), as well as things that were wrongly prescribed to try and fix the crisis. I essentially attempt to paint a picture of the narrative that the right and … [Read more...]
More Money than God is More Interesting than Most Books You Will Read All Year
August 19, 2011 By
In a lot of ways this book review does not belong in my series on the financial crisis of 2008 because well over 350 pages of the 500-page book have nothing to do with the financial crisis itself. But in one very important sense this book is extremely important to the aftermath of the crisis, and I hope to make that sense clear in this review. More Money than God should be required reading for anyone in my business, and I mean that with complete seriousness. It is an utterly fascinating look … [Read more...]
Goldman Sachs Done Wrong in Long Form
July 27, 2011 By
It is not exactly newsworthy that some people blame Goldman Sachs for some pretty silly things. The initial hit-piece on Goldman Sachs came in a trendy rock n' roll magazine, of all places. I have defended Goldman Sachs before, and believe this reply to the aforementioned nonsense in Rolling Stone covers a lot of the same ground I would cover now (though my own conviction level in the defense of Goldman is even higher now than it was then). So when a very talented financial journalist who … [Read more...]
