I just want to make one simple point, and it is not that complicated. I don't think anything the Federal Reserve Bank can do, this year or in the next six months anyway, can help free up the frozen credit markets. It simply has nothing to do with interest rates.
There is one thing the U.S. Justice Department could do though: a few indictments of fraud would help a lot. I know that white collar criminal cases are never quick to file or prosecute. It took years to bust the Enron executives. I certainly hope we get some soon. Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial would be one good place to start. Definitely the Citibank perpetrators of the sale of the CDOs sold to the three Norwegian townships. That got a lot of press - they should be indicted. There are no doubt hundreds of people who participated in all this fraud. They should do the time. That would restore confidence in credit markets.
No comments:
Post a Comment