Lehman Brothers ex-CEO Wants Everyone To Know That It Was Everyone Else's Fault Lehman Failed
from the well-that's-convincing dept
At a public hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission -- the group put together to investigate the Wall Street implosion of 2008 -- former Lehman Brothers' CEO, Dick Fuld, wants everyone to know that Lehman was not at fault in its failure. No, it turns out the problem was all of you. You didn't believe strongly enough in Lehman, and then the government didn't bail him out because of it. As the crew at Planet Money notes:In fact, in 1,680 words of prepared testimony, Fuld devotes exactly 15 words to what Lehman did wrong. And those 15 words are immediately followed by an explanation of why Lehman's errors didn't contribute to the bankruptcy:Of course, part of his reasoning is that the government did proceed to bail out most of the other big Wall Street firms. However, just because the government decided to save those other guys, it doesn't mean that all of Wall Street didn't make some serious mistakes in creating their own downfall. In fact, a recent report from Planet Money and Pro Publica, that came out just last week, showed how ridiculous levels of self-dealing among banks not only prolonged the mess, but actually made the eventual impact much, much worse. Basically the banks created fake demand for the very worst parts of the mortgage-backed securities they were trying to sell, in order to keep on selling.In retrospect, there is no question we made some poorly timed business decisions and investments, but we addressed those mistakes and got ourselves back to a strong equity position ... There is nothing about this profile that would indicate a bankrupt company.
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Filed Under: blame, dick fuld
Companies: lehman brothers
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Just an opinion, but...
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Re: Just an opinion, but...
It seems the two are pretty commonly one and the same individual.
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Re: Re: Just an opinion, but...
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pathetic
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F. me those guy's are good.
Auto-Tune the News: Bankers' Song - We Didn't See It Coming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fTh2GffJsM
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Not quite black/white
I am NOT defending Dick Fuld or any Lehman exec. They did some extremely risky and stupid things and deserve to be grilled in front of these kinds of hearings. They were just as much a part of it as others, but they're not entirely to blame.
Imagine if you could buy insurance on your neighbor's house...
Credit Default Swaps - buying something akin to insurance that said if a firm went out of business, you got money. But there was no requirement you actually had to own any part of the firm.
... and then burn it to the ground. And get paid. With no consequences.
Short selling - specifically naked short selling. Selling stock you don't own with the promise that you would have the stock in x number of days. Naked short selling where you haven't borrowed the stock that you're shorting. More short selling than actual demand drives the stock price down. But you fail to deliver the stock on the promised day, even though this is illegal in most circumstances, but nothing is ever done.
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So corrupt were/are the big banks that they found a way to prosper while we all suffer, even today.
Every corporation that bought a piece of Lehman should have their board of directors imprisoned.
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The Banker's Pen
Remember the Banker's Pen ads?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ7EIKbnnkw
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Re:
They ought to go crawl under a rock to count their ill gotten gains, but nooo - they have to taunt the angry crowd dont they.
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Anagrams Are Fun
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Fraud Followed By Theft
The bad guys set this up absolutely deliberately, with full knowledge of how things were going to pan out. So far, none of the bad guys, including Dick Fuld, have gone to jail. Given the regulatory capture and political stupidity, it is unlikely that any of the bad guys will go to jail. Enjoy your losses, suckers.
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Worst of the worst
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Where's my money, beeyotch?
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