The Center for Public Integrity rolls out a giant clickfest today, with Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown. The project tracks nearly 7.2 million subprime mortgages in search of the 25 lenders most responsible for the housing crisis. Bill Buzenberg, former NPR hand and current executive director of the CPI, suggests looking at the problem this way:
The truth is these mega-banks invested trillions, made billions, and took risks with their eyes wide open. Now, because they are deemed "too big to fail," they need trillions in government bailouts and guarantees to solve problems they helped create. But let's look at it another way: perhaps these mega-banks are simply "too politically connected to fail." Their unbridled political contributions and massive lobbying created the lack of regulation and oversight that led to this crisis. Where is the accountability -- of management and boards, of auditors and regulators -- for what has happened? It is time to set aside the myth of the mega-bank as victim.
categories: Pitchforks
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