I just watched the 60 Minutes segment on Michael Lewis and his new book, “The Big Short.” He had some terrific sound bites including my favorite about AIG: “…they didn’t know the mistake they were making.” Here’s one reason I’m buying the book.
As a stockbroker, I was wary of all the profit centers. Specialists—traders with deep and sophisticated knowledge of their products—were always gunning for client fees. They didn’t care about suitability. They cared about their P&Ls. Lewis makes a great point about the crisis of 2008: the specialists not only pitched clients, but also their own CEOs who didn’t understand what they were buying. Now, there’s a scary observation. And I want to read more.
On Thursday of this week, I’m discussing “Trust and the Capital Markets” at a conference hosted by NRC Focus in Amsterdam. When I return, I’ll post more of my thoughts about this issue of too many profit centers.
BTW, Amazon’s star ratings for The Big Short are misleading. At the time of this post, over half of the ratings are from people who use 1-star to voice their displeasure at the lack of a Kindle edition.
The New York Times describes my novels as “money porn,” “a red-hot franchise,” and “glittery thrillers about fiscal malfeasance.” Through fiction I explore the dark side of money and the motivations of those who have it, want more, and will steamroll anybody who gets in their way.
Great post, I am a big fan of this website, keep on writing these great posts, and I’ll be a regular for a very long time.
Anderson, thank you so much for your kind words. Michael Lewis was a great guest on 60 Minutes, and his book is terrific.
I’m a little behind my writing schedule as I just returned from the Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock (great event), but I have more coming this week.
In particular, check back on Thursday when Anna Bernasek will guest blog here. Her book, The Economics of Integrity, was just published by Haprer Collins. You’ll like what she has to say.
Again, many thanks for visiting Acrimoney.
Norb