May 01 2010

Clueless in Fantasyland

I didn’t know. It wasn’t me. I’ve never done that. It’s outside my scope. I didn’t do it. I had no idea. I was nowhere near the place. I don’t know how important it was. I never thought of it. I don’t know what drove the business.

I n-n-n-never… I didn’t. It wasn’t. I couldn’t. I wasn’t. It couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Nooooo….. pleeeeze. You must believe me. I only run the place, Senator. I was in the executive washroom counting money and punching the clown with the big red nose. What the fcuk do you expect from me?

Snicker. I’m an idiot, you fool.

15 comments

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    • Edger on May 1, 2010 at 00:47
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    Don’t you like your job, Senator?

    • TMC on May 1, 2010 at 01:26
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    Then why does he have the damned job??????

    Who hired this idiot???

    • Edger on May 1, 2010 at 02:14
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    RussiaToday  –  April 29, 2010  – This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at the scandals of bailout buffets for Too Big to Fail banks; selling complexity to very profitable unsophisticated investors; the IMF is ‘there to help Greece’ . . . in a Dr. Kervorkian kind of way. In the second half of the show, Max interviews economist Max Fraad Wolff about US government debt.

  4. …. that could only invest in certain rated products. Your answer ‘I never thought about it.’  That strains credulity.  You never thought there are classes of investors (like schools, hospitals etc)  who can only invest in  triple A products ?”

    (turning triple B’s into A’s gives them a higher rating )

    Loyd Blankfein of Gold in Sacks –  “Senator, I never marketed that, ….  if you are asking me if I knew…. that some categories are barred unless they are a Triple A,  it just wasn’t in my scope, to know that.

    Sen. Levin Q? – …. Now we’re talking marketing and selling.  How important is it?  your answer ‘I don’t know you’re telling us, I don’t know how important triple A ratings are to your standards?’

    Loyd Blankfein of Gold in Sacks – Senator, I don’t know the standards, I don’t know what drove the business. I’m being asked a question in a deposition about a line of business that I was never personally was in, I’ve never done this in my life in this firm, there are so many people at GS that can answer this a with precision act that I’m not one of them.  

    Sen. Levin Q – You don’t know those ratings are important to sales?

    Lloyd Blankfein of Gold in Sacks – “I know they’re important. I don’t know HOW important….  I don’t know  how important lower rating higher yield to investors were just than important.  I just don’t know. ”

    _______

    Above is a partial transcript to give an idea of what was going on.

    CDOs =  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C…


    Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) are a type of structured asset-backed security

    (ABS) whose value and payments are derived from a portfolio of fixed-income underlying assets. CDOs securities are split into different risk classes, or tranches, whereby “senior” tranches are considered the safest securities. Interest and principal payments are made in order of seniority, so that junior tranches offer higher coupon payments (and interest rates) or lower prices to compensate for additional default risk.

    structured  –  helps transfer risk using complex legal and corporate entities

    tranches –   French for “slice” section, series, or portion.  one of a number of related securities offered as part of the same transaction

    classes of notes, Class A, B, C securities with different bond credit ratings

    asset backed security –  security whose value and income payments are derived from and collateralized or backed by a specified pool of  assets

    Pooling the assets into financial instruments allows them to be sold to general investors

    special purpose vehicle –  creates and sells securities, uses sales to pay back the bank,  bundles assets into pools that will fit the the risk preferences of investors who want to buy securities

  5. Although this table is current to just 02′ you get the picture that as progressive taxation declined dramatically the gulf between the masses and the wealthy also increased dramatically.

    Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what is needed.

    Table 1 Maximum Marginal Tax Rates on Individual Income

    *. Hong Kong’s maximum tax (the “standard rate”) has normally been 15 percent, effectively capping the marginal rate at high income levels (in exchange for no personal exemptions).

    **. The highest U.S. tax rate of 39.6 percent after 1993 was reduced to 38.6 percent in 2002 and to 35 percent in 2003.

    1979 1990 2002

    Argentina 45 30 35

    Australia 62 48 47

    Austria 62 50 50

    Belgium 76 55 52

    Bolivia 48 10 13

    Botswana 75 50 25

    Brazil 55 25 28

    Canada (Ontario) 58 47 46

    Chile 60 50 43

    Colombia 56 30 35

    Denmark 73 68 59

    Egypt 80 65 40

    Finland 71 43 37

    France 60 52 50

    Germany 56 53 49

    Greece 60 50 40

    Guatemala 40 34 31

    Hong Kong 25* 25 16

    Hungary 60 50 40

    India 60 50 30

    Indonesia 50 35 35

    Iran 90 75 35

    Ireland 65 56 42

    Israel 66 48 50

    Italy 72 50 52

    Jamaica 58 33 25

    Japan 75 50 50

    South Korea 89 50 36

    Malaysia 60 45 28

    Mauritius 50 35 25

    Mexico 55 35 40

    Netherlands 72 60 52

    New Zealand 60 33 39

    Norway 75 54 48

    Pakistan 55 45 35

    Philippines 70 35 32

    Portugal 84 40 40

    Puerto Rico 79 43 33

    Russia NA 60 13

    Singapore 55 33 26

    Spain 66 56 48

    Sweden 87 65 56

    Thailand 60 55 37

    Trinidad and Tobago 70 35 35

    Turkey 75 50 45

    United Kingdom 83 40 40

    United States 70 33 39**

    Source: PricewaterhouseC

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