Money, Power, and Wall Street

Of all the various postmortem documentaries on the financial crisis, no one has done a consistently better job than Frontline on PBS. Their reporting has been spot on and that's why I'm letting you guys know about a new special they're doing which starts tomorrow called Money, Power, and Wall Street. I know I'll be watching it, and I suggest all of you do the same. Enjoy:

Watch Money, Power and Wall Street on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

 

Looks like a typical Public Broadcasting System propaganda piece with every left wing commentator PBS can track down at the NY Times and MSNBC. This is a perfect example of why tax payer dollars should not be sent to PBS--free speech is great, so pay for it yourself. But because left wing ideas are so intellectually bankrupt and their representatives so banal and insipid the only way the left can get a platform is through tax payer dollars--public education, universities, and public radio and broadcasting. Their ideas cannot win in the marketplace of ideas.

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
Looks like a typical Public Broadcasting System propaganda piece with every left wing commentator PBS can track down at the NY Times and MSNBC. This is a perfect example of why tax payer dollars should not be sent to PBS--free speech is great, so pay for it yourself. But because left wing ideas are so intellectually bankrupt and their representatives so banal and insipid the only way the left can get a platform is through tax payer dollars--public education, universities, and public radio and broadcasting. Their ideas cannot win in the marketplace of ideas.

Hahahahaha. Dude, did we watch the same preview, or am I missing something?

What crazy left wing ideas were even proposed in this? What are you even talking about?

 

I agree with VTech. If they don't adress the real cause of the crisis (i.e. governement moral hazard via fannie & freddie and the role of the FED), then this doc is a total farce.

 
Best Response
Abdel:
I agree with VTech. If they don't adress the real cause of the crisis (i.e. governement moral hazard via fannie & freddie and the role of the FED), then this doc is a total farce.

You're totally right...CDO and CDS products had nothing at all to do with the insane growth of the housing bubble or or the destructive spreading of risk throughout the system. You're right, Big Gubbermint put a gun to the head of New Century and WaMu to pump progressively shittier and shittier loans in order to grow their profit margins (all because they could push the loans over to the big banks who made CDO products).

Did gov't play a role? Yes. Is it the sole cause? No, not even close.

Step into reality.

 
TheKing:
Abdel:
I agree with VTech. If they don't adress the real cause of the crisis (i.e. governement moral hazard via fannie & freddie and the role of the FED), then this doc is a total farce.

You're totally right...CDO and CDS products had nothing at all to do with the insane growth of the housing bubble or or the destructive spreading of risk throughout the system. You're right, Big Gubbermint put a gun to the head of New Century and WaMu to pump progressively shittier and shittier loans in order to grow their profit margins (all because they could push the loans over to the big banks who made CDO products).

Did gov't play a role? Yes. Is it the sole cause? No, not even close.

Step into reality.

uh, if fannie & freddie didn't guaranteed mortgages, you think the banks would of used them for the MBS's?

If governement didn't guaranteed bank accounts, you think the banks could take that money and play with it?

If the FED didn,t braught down its rate artificially to 1% in '01, there would of been no teaser rates, no housing bubble.

Again, this doc is a farce if he don't adress these things, which are the root causes of the crisis.

 

I can't watch the video at work, but I do agree with VT that the US government shouldn't pay for PBS. Regardless of who they have on or the slant (or lack thereof) of the show, it has a right to be on TV, but not to be taxpayer funded. In this day and age I don't know why the taxpayers should pay for any TV or radio programming.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
accountingbyday:
I can't watch the video at work, but I do agree with VT that the US government shouldn't pay for PBS. Regardless of who they have on or the slant (or lack thereof) of the show, it has a right to be on TV, but not to be taxpayer funded. In this day and age I don't know why the taxpayers should pay for any TV or radio programming.

I'd be surprised if anyone on WSO disagreed with that. It is ridiculous that there's government funding for a broadcaster in this (or any) day and age.

However, that doesn't mean that Frontline doesn't do a great job on reporting the crisis.

 
blastoise:
Don't hate on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae , they are needed to provide liquidity to the mortgage market.

That's true. Private market is not ready and the conditions for that to be ready are not met.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.
 

Main Street didn't get bailed out? Am I missing something, or did GM get bailed out and still hasn't paid the government back? People (idiots) actually think that Main Street doesn't do shit wrong. They may say that corporations are the devil, yet they all own iPhones. Take the latest fuck up by Wal-Mart. They bribed people in Mexico to make sure the expansion of stores went smoothly, yet that doesn't stop the typical low/middle class American from shopping there.

 

The point is simple--there were 3 basic causes to the financial crisis: 1) Wall Street; 2) Main Street; and 3) government. I'd love to see the day that PBS goes after Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, USDA, Congressional policy, Congressional oversight, the CRA, the Federal Reserve, etc. I'd love to see the day that PBS points out the greed and often fraud of everyday Americans--loan officers, branch managers, title reps, appraisers, investors, regular buyers, etc. And I'd love it if they put on different perspectives--ones that fundamentally differ from the likes of Paul Krugman and Robert Reich, both who are hacks for the 2012 Obama campaign.

Pinning this all on Wall Street is totally false. Wall Street doesn't package rancid loans if these loans weren't rife with fraud and deceit that started at the very ground floor of Main Street.

Array
 

"Pinning this all on Wall Street is totally false. Wall Street doesn't package rancid loans if these loans weren't rife with fraud and deceit that started at the very ground floor of Main Street."

lol I suppose "the very ground floor of main street" = New Century and Washington Mutual or Countrywide

The companies that only pushed the limits of lending standards because short-term greed and full knowledge that they could pass the loans on, no matter how shitty, to big Wall Street banks to be packaged into securities. Again, this doesn't happen to the extent that it did without a CDO market (which was, again, created and run by the big banks.) Without CDO and CDS products, the bubble would not have been a fraction as massive or destructive as it was.

 
TheKing:
"Pinning this all on Wall Street is totally false. Wall Street doesn't package rancid loans if these loans weren't rife with fraud and deceit that started at the very ground floor of Main Street."

lol I suppose "the very ground floor of main street" = New Century and Washington Mutual or Countrywide

The companies that only pushed the limits of lending standards because short-term greed and full knowledge that they could pass the loans on, no matter how shitty, to big Wall Street banks to be packaged into securities. Again, this doesn't happen to the extent that it did without a CDO market (which was, again, created and run by the big banks.) Without CDO and CDS products, the bubble would not have been a fraction as massive or destructive as it was.

Typical liberal Democrat. Of course you failed to quote me when I said that it was THREE things (Wall Street, Main Street and government) that caused the crisis. You're setting up a straw man where I'm supposed to defend the position that Wall Street wasn't at fault. It absolutely was. But for those of us who work at the ground level, I can state as a matter of fact that fraud and "fraudulent" practices (legal but unethical practices) were utterly rampant on the Main Street level, from the appraisers to the loan officers, hell, to the title abstractors. To totally dismiss the role of Main Street is to have really no fundamental understanding of the housing boom and collapse. To dismiss the role of Freddie Mac and particularly Fannie Mae is to demonstrate a total disregard for reality. The modern idea that all Americans are essentially entitled to homeownership was the brainchild of leftists/crony capitalists at Fannie Mae in the late 1980s.

Array
 
Virginia Tech 4ever:
TheKing:
"Pinning this all on Wall Street is totally false. Wall Street doesn't package rancid loans if these loans weren't rife with fraud and deceit that started at the very ground floor of Main Street."

lol I suppose "the very ground floor of main street" = New Century and Washington Mutual or Countrywide

The companies that only pushed the limits of lending standards because short-term greed and full knowledge that they could pass the loans on, no matter how shitty, to big Wall Street banks to be packaged into securities. Again, this doesn't happen to the extent that it did without a CDO market (which was, again, created and run by the big banks.) Without CDO and CDS products, the bubble would not have been a fraction as massive or destructive as it was.

Typical liberal Democrat. Of course you failed to quote me when I said that it was THREE things (Wall Street, Main Street and government) that caused the crisis. You're setting up a straw man where I'm supposed to defend the position that Wall Street wasn't at fault. It absolutely was. But for those of us who work at the ground level, I can state as a matter of fact that fraud and "fraudulent" practices (legal but unethical practices) were utterly rampant on the Main Street level, from the appraisers to the loan officers, hell, to the title abstractors. To totally dismiss the role of Main Street is to have really no fundamental understanding of the housing boom and collapse. To dismiss the role of Freddie Mac and particularly Fannie Mae is to demonstrate a total disregard for reality. The modern idea that all Americans are essentially entitled to homeownership was the brainchild of leftists/crony capitalists at Fannie Mae in the late 1980s.

1.) Calm down. It's not worth raising your blood pressure over.

2.) If a guy lists his occupation as "painter" and asks for a no-doc loan and claims his income to be $100K+ without proof and the lender STILL gives him a loan, then they deserve to get fucked over.

3.) I didn't say that main street or the gov't wasn't at fault at all! There is plenty of fault to go around. I simply point out that the actions of the big banks exacerbated things by many orders of magnitude. Just because others made mistakes, it does not make this less their fault. To downplay the damage done by the big banks toxic products is foolish and your name calling makes you come off as an ideologue.

4.) I absolutely blame the shit out of the "main street" lenders who knowingly made shitbag loans to sell to Wall Street firms to increase their profit margins. But, the only reason the market for their shitty loans existed was because of the demand for "highly rated" CDO products. Again, that doesn't excuse them, but WaMu and New Century and the other sub-prime lenders would not have had a market for shittier and shittier loans without the big banks CDO machine. That said, it obviously doesn't absolve them of blame. Nor have I ever implied that it does.

Also, if being reasonable and not blowing a fucking gasket over this makes me a Liberal Democrat, than honestly, that's fine with me.

 

VT is right in saying that people lied in their application for mortgages and such. Of course, one could make that argument that doing a little investigating into the day laborer claiming 195k a year in after tax income might have been prudent as well but there was definitely fradualent activity by 'Main St' mortgage applicants. I don't think anyone can deny that and be taken seriously.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

It is obvious that allowing the entire financial sector to collapse only would have benefited main street.

I think VT is spot on with things. 3 parties to blame, yet only one is getting the heat. And how can anyone say the financial sector got off scott free? Massive layoffs, mergers, firings and 2 iconic banks failed.

 
<span class=keyword_link><a href=/company/trilantic-north-america>TNA</a></span>:
It is obvious that allowing the entire financial sector to collapse only would have benefited main street.

I think VT is spot on with things. 3 parties to blame, yet only one is getting the heat. And how can anyone say the financial sector got off scott free? Massive layoffs, mergers, firings and 2 iconic banks failed.

I was actually a layoff victim in 2008. Less than a year out of college and all the first-year analysts at my shop were chopped.

Array
 

"Aren't you the anti-religion, anti-Wall Street pro-Obama guy?"

1.) I'm pro being a rational thinker and anti-people forcing their religious dogma on the public (I don't care what people do privately). Plus, God might not exist, or he might...either way, we should all just chill out about it since we can't do anything about it.

2.) I'm anti-TBTF, not anti-wall street in general. Don't generalize.

3.) I'll likely either not vote or vote against Romney. You'll never agree to this, but Obama has been a moderate. His health care plan is based on Romney's and Heritage Foundation ideas. I don't love Dodd-Frank and would prefer Glass-Steagall, but I'll take what I can get. Romney panders to the least common denominator, so he won't be getting my vote.

 

I agree. I've watched the previous segments pertaining to the financial crises and they we're well done. Thanks for the information Edmundo Braverman as I shared this link on my twitter. I'm looking forward to these new segments.

Who Am I? | See what GMngmt is all about at About.Me
 

encourage people of this site to watch this, despite the usual liberal slant (the first episode has a background of Blythe Masters and her team at JPM, Frank Partnoy (former derivatives salesman at MS who wrote an entertaining book called FIASCO, and Satyajit Das (traders, guns and money)

IVY for Life
 

Dolores voluptatem voluptas nihil. Reiciendis est ducimus fugit deserunt. Eveniet et voluptatibus qui quod asperiores consequatur. Consequuntur eum quas ducimus iste pariatur odio vel.

Minus sed quia ut inventore vero. Facere recusandae non qui et et ratione. Minus ipsa dolorum quisquam inventore ipsam et soluta. Natus laboriosam ipsum dolores vitae.

Tenetur repellendus enim nulla laboriosam at. Cum rerum vitae sint aliquam.

Veniam illo quia voluptatem delectus impedit. Est nobis assumenda nobis cumque. Sunt sint nihil rerum sed. Perspiciatis illum odio ea doloribus ut esse.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 

Rem odio ut adipisci veritatis quis voluptatem. Quisquam enim quis blanditiis. Rerum quo et ea qui. Dolores omnis ipsa rerum eum blanditiis.

Necessitatibus eveniet rem similique et. Corrupti eos unde magni autem nobis. Et delectus error quasi rerum magni qui. Iste labore soluta pariatur quae et. Eum dignissimos fuga ut. At vitae enim praesentium magni sed amet. Consequatur nemo et cupiditate assumenda minus.

Voluptas et voluptas numquam est ea sint. Tempora dolor modi molestiae maiores similique ipsum sit. Non deleniti dolor minima sit. Officiis sunt voluptatibus in repudiandae rem vero. Debitis nobis sapiente nostrum consequatur.

Follow me on insta @FinancialDemigod

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”