By irishguy

March 16, 2010 10:51 PM | Link to this

Well, from one Mick to another, Happy St Paddy’s Day to ya laddie! I’ll be wearing the Green tomorrow and quite possibly will see “the peeing o the Green” as well. Don’t worry about Mr Rove, I’m sure a lot of authors would give their right arms to spend a day in the number one slot at amazon.

By vick

March 16, 2010 8:06 PM | Link to this

Green beer and lots of Blarney, Irish. I’m an honorary Irishman. That’s why some people call me MICKunas….I see the Michael Lewis book is still number one in sales over on Amazon. Poor Karl Rove, he had the top slot for about 5 minutes….and so it goes.

By irishguy

March 16, 2010 6:10 PM | Link to this

Sorry Mark, I misdirected that last post at Vick. I swear I haven’t started celebrating yet! I recall from a discussion last St Paddy’s Day that you aren’t a big fan of March 17th.

By irishguy

March 16, 2010 6:07 PM | Link to this

Vick, I beg to differ. A big part of this current mess is folks in foreclosure. My wife sold new construction in 2006, 07 & 08 and was amazed how easily folks were getting approved for 300K plus homes. Any big plans for tomorrow? What happens in Yellow Springs for St Paddy’s Day?

By Mark from St Paul

March 16, 2010 1:25 PM | Link to this

Irish, sorry to ding you on the day before your big day, but the Community Reinvestment Act had nothing to do with this mess. Progressives (you know, us evil folks Glenn Beck’s all worked up about) would cheerfully defund Sallie Mae in a heartbeat. The problem Lewis focuses on in this book is Wall Street’s ability to invent financial instruments solely for the purpose of messing with everybody else’s money. They literally change the rules to meet their needs and throughout the entire process at each and every turn, they scrape off a little for themselves. Everything the right accuses D.C. of, Wall Street is twice as guilty of.

By waterboard

March 16, 2010 1:17 PM | Link to this

Did you say Madoff? Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch…

By doubtful

March 16, 2010 1:04 PM | Link to this

Vick, there’s a comprehensive book on the whole mess by Barry Ritholtz called Bailout Nation. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/01/bailout-nation-updated-review/ He also references many other books on our recent financial mess including Harry Markopolos’ No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller (about Madoff). There’s more out there than what TV would let you think…

By H. Lee

March 15, 2010 4:53 PM | Link to this

Vick or others posting here: Any idea how this compares to Stiglitz’ “Freefall” about the collapse of the global economy? It seems the usual supects show up in both, of course, but I wondered which is the better book for the non-economist reader.

By irishguy

March 15, 2010 4:46 PM | Link to this

The 60 Minutes interview didn’t mention the Community Reinvestment Act, which forced banks to make higher risk loans. Or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac having a role in our current crisis. Does Mr Lewis cover that in his book? Or perhaps Mr Kroft chose not to ask about the government’s involvement in this mess.

By Blowfly

March 15, 2010 2:44 PM | Link to this

I saw part of Lewis’ interview on 60 Minutes last night, based on that I think I’ll read this book.