In a classic three-man con there's a few defined roles that bear a striking resemblance to aspects of the sordid scam perpetrated by Wall Street that led us into this financial mess.
Crank up the Scott Joplin mp3s and let "The Sting" play on the movie screen in your head as we walk through it.
The owner: In the movie, this guy is Henry Gondorff, played by Paul Newman.He's the guy who designs and runs the scam. These days, Henry Gondorff would be a hedge fund manager, designing and running the "Big Con" in plain sight. Paulson at Goldman or the true masters of the con, the guys at Magnetar. They built the whole scheme. Just like any other con, the owner gets the biggest cut.
The roper: This would be Johnny Hooker. This is the guy who brings in the mark. Here we see the banks marketing these investment vehicles without ever breathing a word that they've been deliberately configured to be toxic.
The cooler: This guys job is to prevent the mark from squealing too loud after the fact. Remember in the movie where Agent Polk busts the gambling joint and a fake shootout leaves Lonnegan believing its all over and even if he WAS scammed there's no way to get any of it back? That's where the lobbyist-directed noise machine comes in. The whole point in todays scenario is to make sure that if any reform does get passed it isn't going to stop the banks running these scams.
The mark: In the movie this was Doyle Lonnegan and just like in the movie the mark in this case was an easy target because they were running a scam of their own. The folks who issued the default swaps on the rigged CDOs were the mark for the main con but just like Lonnegan, these guys were running their own numbers racket on the world economy and so when they got burned they didn't yell too loud, they might even prefer to assist in covering up the scam so that regulations don't hit their business too.
Ultimately though, the marks of this classic con was us.
Stepping away from "The Sting" or from the mess we find ourselves in right now, perhaps a quote from a fantasy novel sums it up best....
"It was robbery by numbers, it was 'Find the Lady' done with ledgers, they didnt stand a chance." - Moist von Lipwig, in Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal"