Inside the Collapse
60 Minutes continues to do what government regulators cannot do or are not willing to do. Last night 60 Minutes aired a piece, Inside the Collapse, that did more to help me understand how the financial collapse happened and why those that created it have not been held accountable. Here is my paraphrase of what I saw: Investment houses (that because of deregulation are now also banks) created securities with high risk, bought ratings from the ratings agencies to make them AAA rated, sold them to investors who had money to loose and those trying to create wealth, and adopted the business plan of a software company where even though there are bugs in a system you have to keep buying the upgrade. The government, on behalf of taxpayers and the economy, purchased the upgrade. It is worth 25 minutes of an hour.
They also aired a piece on a person, a musical savant named Derek. It too, is a great story of a guy they have followed for six years. It was a good 60 minutes last night.