Comments on: The problem with municipalities buying swaps

By: Mega

Mega — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:17:07 +0000

Baschi’s treasurer Dominici has a degree in economics. OK, she didn’t know what derivatives were — maybe she graduated decades ago — but couldn’t she manage just a wee bit of due diligence? Does she ever bother to read the financial section of a major newspaper? The presumably torpid pace of life in rural Umbria should leave enough time for that, one would think.

The home equity reference brought back memories of a radio ad for an equity lender that fed uncreditworthy homeowners’ righteous anger at banks denying them “their” (i.e., the borrowers’) money. Amazing how people think, or not.

By: seanmatthews

seanmatthews — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:56:07 +0000

It is becoming more and more clear that a large part of investment banking in recent years has been a rent-seeking hunt for bag-carriers (to use Bond Girl’s appropriate phrase). The real worry now is surely, given that a large part of the growth and profits of the US economy over the last 10 years turns out, in reality, to have been rent-seeking, what will they look like when the picture clears.

By: GingerYellow

GingerYellow — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:51:30 +0000

Blood funnels again? Man, the vampire squid really got a raw deal in the Goldman analogy. It’s a lovely, harmless cephalopod (well, unless you’re a crustacean).

By: UncleBillly1

UncleBillly1 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:20:38 +0000

That’s so cute — Bond Girl on Nemo’s blog. Remember when they met? Always wondered if Bond Girl’s name was a play on words.

With regard to municipal finance… time to remember again that the lady who ran (runs? a part of?) municipal finance at Goldman Sachs was Jerry Brown’s sister. Remember how she and Henry Cisneros bailed out of the board at Countrywide just before the SHTF?

Also, as with home loans, let’s not pretend that all the city finance people were rubes, yes? The best cons work by appealing to that little bit of larceny and greed in the mark’s heart.