For over a year Debbie has been telling me "this is a major fucking disaster. There is nowhere to hide." For the first nine months I listened and tried to make the arguments about why things weren't really that bad.
Fannie Mae was really not in as bad of shape as it seemed. It couldn't be...
The securities has massive collateral and rating agencies and conservative default assumptions
The companies were not THAT stupid
There couldn't be THAT many people who would go along with the "wink wink, nod nod" of stated income loans
Merrill? No
WAMU? - No freaking way - they were the most respected thrift out there in the 1990s
AIG? - conservative, money printing machine
Chevy Chase Bank? Known for cautious, non-innovative approach
But i was wrong. Let me say it loud and not so proud - I was wrong.
There is no place to hide. People in the financial services world LOST THEIR FREAKING MINDS.
And so many ignorant people (and i mean that in the true definition of the word not pejoratively) just assumed that all those really smart Ivy League, mostly white male Masters of the Universe know what they were doing. Did anyone read Liar's Poker? Those guys were amateurs. This is Liar's Poker on Barry Bonds' level of steroids. And then some.
But they LOST THEIR FREAKING MINDS. Greenwich CT is next - mark my words - there will be a story on 60 Minutes in the next six months about "what used to be" in Greenwich CT.
Usually I like to be right. This time I am sure, and sad, that Debbie was right.
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