Predictable

Tuesday 29 January 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Gee. This wasn’t predictable at all. The Wall Street Journal:

There was a time when you had to be successful on Wall Street to become secretary of the Treasury. Now along comes presidential nominee Jack Lew, whose only business credential is a stint at the most troubled too-big-to-fail bank.

During the darkest days of the financial crisis Mr. Lew served as the chief operating officer of Citigroup’s C -0.37% Alternative Investments unit (CAI). When Mr. Lew took this job in January 2008, the unit was already infamous for overseeing “structured investment vehicles” that hid mortgage risks outside Citi’s balance sheet. It also housed internal hedge funds that were in the process of imploding.

CAI no longer exists. At the end of Mr. Lew’s first quarter on the job, the unit reported a $358 million loss. Things got much worse after that but Citi stopped breaking out CAI results in its earnings releases. The unit was eventually shuttered and many of its assets were sold.

The funnel between Wall Street and K street must be closed.

2013-01-29  »  madlibertarianguy