And another thing...

Okay here are some winners that I don't have time to expound on (and couldn't add much anyway)

NYT on Wall Street Versus Small-Town America

Buyer beware, my @ss.
We keep hearing sellers of exotic financial products say that the buyers are to blame.
That would be a more compelling argument if the buyers weren't hopelessly uninformed about what they are buying.

-But they should know what they are buying!

How? The sellers employ armies of fine print authors to describe how a given product will live in its native environment. The average buyer will not have access to unfiltered information about either.
Sellers take pains to make apples to apples comparison of their product as difficult as possible. A year ago, most people would have thought rating agencies were independent sources of reliable opinions.
Picture a sales guy (ANY sales guy) telling their client "Y'know the rating agencies are paid by my company"

And then there's this:

Congressional Panel Suggests Firing Managers, Liquidating Banks

A congressional panel overseeing the U.S. financial rescue suggested that getting rid of top executives and liquidating problem banks may be a better way to solve the economic crisis.

I've been out of it for awhile, but I'd hope this is making full rounds in the press. Kind of a big deal, that.

Here's a great para from the Guardian, who scooped everyone.

The report will also look at how earlier crises were overcome - the Swedish and Japanese problems of the 1990s, the US savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and the 30s Depression. "Three things had to happen," Warren said. "Firstly, the banks must have confidence that the valuation of the troubled assets in question is accurate; then the management of the institutions receiving subsidies from the government must be replaced; and thirdly, the equity investors are always wiped out."

(H/t CJR)