If I had to name one, I’d say ProPublica’s is the most important business series of last year (which come to think of it, may be one reason they got it in under the Pulitzer board’s Dec. 31 deadline), showing as clearly as we’ve yet seen how Wall Street intentionally kept the bubble going long after it would have deflated.
One question is how much, if any, of this could be prosecuted. For instance, I’d be interested to know more about what Merrill told investors about these specific CDOs—ones it created that were so bad the company had to pay its own people to take them.
Here’s hoping there’s more to come on this in 2011.
Thanks for the heads up Ryan. I was on vacation too & missed this.
#1 Posted by edward ericson, CJR on Fri 7 Jan 2011 at 08:40 AM
Well spotted that this is in many ways potentially a massive story. It truly shows the corruption and downright incompetence of the banks. It also shows that these organizations are unable to regulate themselves and that they pay no regard to the damage done to the broader community.
Also it blows apart the position of all those apologists who say that just because Goldman or whoever make a profit it is ok. The fact is that they conspired to keep the housing bubble growing through creating false demand and then let the taxpayer and the rest of the country pick up the pieces while they walked away with their bonuses.
I noticed this story before xmas and was worried it would be buried so thanks for picking it up.
#2 Posted by Joe Osbourne, CJR on Sat 8 Jan 2011 at 12:26 AM