That's just Volume 1
As we mentioned over the weekend on This American Life, the credit rating agencies at the center of the financial crisis have been around for something like a century. The folks at Standard and Poors pulled the tome in the photo above from their library for us. Back in the day the rating agencies published these phone book sized things on a regular basis for investors. (The binding on this one read "Feb-June 1942 VOLUME 1".)
Clearly the ratings provide a valuable service.
The stock prices on the tie were from a happier time.
You can see a scan of some pages from John Moody's book of 1917 steam railroad ratings here.
There's a push now to overhaul the ratings system. You can read testimony from heads of the rating agencies, and from people who would like to change the system, including NYU's Larry White (pictured at right), who argues some of the blame goes back to a rule put in place by the Comptroller of the Currency in 1936.
categories: Understanding The Crisis
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