rdan Running Machine Polar Bear Animation

Robert Waldmann ended my last post 5 minutes ago wishing for part III of the saga and here it is !The final act for AIG by Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis The collapse was, of course, quick when it came. One interesting fact is that AIG Financial Products (AIGFP) stopped writing new CDSs in […]

The whining has started, with most people (e.g., Chris Whalen at The Big Picture) making the obvious mistake of confusing GMAC with General Motors. In the interest of history, I quote myself from the Dark Ages (March 2007) at Tom’s Place: The next time GM explains that its pensioners need to take a hit, it […]

Robert Waldmann The second of three parts of Dennis and O’Harrow’s series on the downfall of AIG introduces two new features—credit default saps and Joseph Cassano. Together the two managed to bring down AIG. Thus far we have only read about how AIG got into the business of writing CDSs — it seemed too good […]

rdan Movie Guy asks in comments: I would prefer to read the risk assessment viewpoints of bankers and underwriters as they understand that subject matter far better than most. That’s the best starting point in my opinion. Whether their models were wrong or were simply ignored internally or by regulators is a question that hasn’t […]

by cactus GW is on vacation. He’s certainly had a lot of these vacations. And yeah, I understand, he still gets his briefings and the like. (I note, most white collar workers I know take work home during their vacations and weekends too.) I realize he doesn’t have a boss and he’s not accountable to […]

Robert Waldmann Over at the Washington Post, Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis have a fairly interesting first of 3 articles on what went wrong at AIG. Of course, they tend to stress personalities and personal conflicts, but they do slip in some good points about economics. I’d say the key bit was that AIG […]

While the brood was at Mary Poppins, I took advantage of the Academy Awards rules and went to see Revolutionary Road. The incremental cost was subway fare (arguably a sunk cost, since I have old Metro cards) and the $12.50 NYC film ticket price. So that was quite rationalisable; met up with an old friend […]

Shira, the kids, and the m-i-l went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway for the former’s birthday. In this version, the father still works for the bank and is given a choice early on: he can loan money to someone who promises to invest the money in business ventures in Foreign Lands and make marvelous […]

rdan The LA Times reports on news regarding shale oil development: Salt Lake City – A titanic battle between the West’s two traditional power brokers – Big Oil and Big Water – has begun. At stake is one of the largest oil reserves in the world, a vast cache trapped beneath the Rocky Mountains containing […]