Sunday, January 04, 2009
Boston's Harry Markopolos
Michael Lewis, along with David Einhorn, has a long follow-up oped to his now classic piece on the Wall Street meltdown, using the failed attempt by Boston's Harry Markopolos to expose the Madoff scam as a metaphor for why so many other things went unchecked and undetected.
Lewis and Einhorn's reform recommendations should be no-brainers. But how do you get a corrupt political culture to implement them? How do you jolt Republicans out of their utopian laissez-faire fantasies? How do you convince Democrats to resist their own utopian big-government instincts? ... I also liked their observation about how, from top to bottom, there were no checks and balances to prevent the financial catastrophe -- and to protect investors and taxpayers. In recent months, I've tried to envision how the U.S. Constitution might have turned out had Alan Greenspan and Christopher Cox been influential Founding Fathers. Checks and balances? Regulating freedom! Two legislative branches? Cumbersome bureaucracy! ... Etc. ... BTW: Don't miss this fun one: AIG owns Stowe, Vermont. Well, most of it. Just don't tell the selectmen they're surviving on a taxpayer bailout.
Michael Lewis, along with David Einhorn, has a long follow-up oped to his now classic piece on the Wall Street meltdown, using the failed attempt by Boston's Harry Markopolos to expose the Madoff scam as a metaphor for why so many other things went unchecked and undetected.
Lewis and Einhorn's reform recommendations should be no-brainers. But how do you get a corrupt political culture to implement them? How do you jolt Republicans out of their utopian laissez-faire fantasies? How do you convince Democrats to resist their own utopian big-government instincts? ... I also liked their observation about how, from top to bottom, there were no checks and balances to prevent the financial catastrophe -- and to protect investors and taxpayers. In recent months, I've tried to envision how the U.S. Constitution might have turned out had Alan Greenspan and Christopher Cox been influential Founding Fathers. Checks and balances? Regulating freedom! Two legislative branches? Cumbersome bureaucracy! ... Etc. ... BTW: Don't miss this fun one: AIG owns Stowe, Vermont. Well, most of it. Just don't tell the selectmen they're surviving on a taxpayer bailout.
