The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has spoken:
As this report goes to print, there are more than 26 million Americans who are out of work, cannot find full-time work, or have given up looking for work. About four million families have lost their homes to foreclosure and another four and a half million have slipped into the foreclosure process or are seriously behind on their mortgage payments. Nearly $11 trillion in household wealth has vanished, with retirement accounts and life savings swept away.
Businesses, large and small, have felt the sting of a deep recession. There is much anger about what has transpired, and justifiably so. Many people who abided by all the rules now find themselves out of work and uncertain about their future prospects. The collateral damage of this crisis has been real people and real communities. The impacts of this crisis are likely to be felt for a generation. And the nation faces no easy path to renewed economic strength. [...]
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission -- January 2011 -- Summary Report (pdf)
Link to the official FCIC site, with a lot more Inquiry details.
Here are their Summary conclusions, with some interesting excerpts, explaining those conclusions.
-- We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable.
-- We conclude widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision proved devastating to the stability of the nation’s financial markets.
-- We conclude dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions were a key cause of this crisis.
-- We conclude a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency put the financial system on a collision course with crisis.
-- We conclude the government was ill prepared for the crisis, and its inconsistent response added to the uncertainty and panic in the financial markets.
-- We conclude there was a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics.
"The impacts of this crisis are likely to be felt for a generation" ... Millions hurting, Families shaken, Futures foreclosed --
All because of WHY again? per FCIC's Conclusions:
financial crisis was avoidable
failures in financial regulation and supervision
failures of corporate governance and risk management
government was ill prepared for the crisis
systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics
If you dig into its details, you might walk away with the conclusion -- that the main thing that has changed on Wall Street -- is the calendar. As far as "Accountability" is concerned, that's still a problem in search of a solution:
We do place special responsibility with the public leaders charged with protecting our financial system, those entrusted to run our regulatory agencies, and the chief executives of companies whose failures drove us to crisis. These individuals sought and accepted positions of significant responsibility and obligation. Tone at the top does matter and, in this instance, we were let down. No one said "no."
If Markets are NOT indeed Self-Correcting, as Greenspan told us at every turn, then maybe the Government Regulators DO have a vital Watchdog function to perform? SOMEONE needs to put on the Brakes when the forces of Greed and Speculation put the entire World Economy in jeopardy. The FCIC commission is saying as much.
Look what those forces did to Our Mortgages ... did to Our Career Opportunities ... did to Our Jobs, ... to our Retirement plans ...
So, I would argue, that "those same forces" MUST Not be able to get their hands on our Social Security Funds, either -- in spite of the coming ramped-up Austerity rhetoric to do just that.
Some things were never meant to be on Free Market. Some things, are just too precious, to risk them -- to "the whims" of Market Forces.
Remember, what the Commission concluded:
There is much anger about what has transpired, and justifiably so. Many people who abided by all the rules now find themselves out of work and uncertain about their future prospects.
And now these Austerity Hawks expect us to just "Trust Them" to reform Entitlement Programs?
SOMEONE definitely needs to say NO! -- like HELL NO! -- this when the green-shaded budget-cutters break out their Sharpie Markers, and start targeting the rest of our future hope.
SOMEONE needs to ask them -- WHEN are they going to get Wall Street to pony up for that last bash they threw -- ALL on the Country's Credit Card?
... Just "Trust Them" -- Yeah Right!
I'll trust them maybe, when they begin to "make good" on the untold damage, they've already done to the Economy, to the country, to the world.
I'll trust them maybe, when they agree to give up the Bush Tax Cuts.
I'll trust them maybe, when they agree to a higher Capital Gains Tax.
I'll trust them maybe, when they agree to meager Transaction Tax on all their lightning-fast trading-bots.
I'll trust them maybe, when they agree to take the speculative hedging, out of Derivatives, and start managing Risk, like Adults, for the long term.
I'll trust them when they talk about raising the FICA Tax Ceiling in a serious way.
Until then -- I'll trust the Wizards on Wall Street -- and their Austerity salesmen -- about as far as The Commission DOES
-- which is apparently, NOT all that far ...
We do place special responsibility with the public leaders charged with protecting our financial system, those entrusted to run our regulatory agencies, and the chief executives of companies whose failures drove us to crisis. These individuals sought and accepted positions of significant responsibility and obligation. [... and ]
No one said "NO."
Despite opinions to the contrary, the forces that unleashed the last Financial Crisis, are still unleashed and lying in wait. If you remember nothing else, remember how the Commission ended with this one very sober warning:
The greatest tragedy would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen again.
This report should not be viewed as the end of the nation’s examination of this crisis. There is still much to learn, much to investigate, and much to fix.
This is our collective responsibility. It falls to us to make different choices if we want different results.
We've been warned. ... Only about a week ago ... The Ink's still fresh.
and still NOT a single Wall Street Mortgage-Securitization "Bankster" has been indicted. Let alone gone to jail.
Where's the Outrage? American-style.
And given the way "Business" is conducted in our "Capitalized Country"
-- most likely NONE ever will (go to Jail) ... THAT is the American Way, isn't it?
When it comes to Accountability.
When it comes to accepting the responsibility, admitting blame, paying damages, for the sake of building a better, more equitable Nation.
Don't expect the Wealthy to pay their fair share -- afterall they've already "paid at the office" to avoid that tiresome civic responsibility.
According to Wall Street players, being a good tax-paying citizen is for fools,
and the working class ... if you're lucky enough to still have a job, that is.