Tue 2009-09-22 08:29 EDT

Guest Post: Satyajit Das on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Finance

Satyajit Das

One year ago, AIG was brought to the brink of bankruptcy as a result its exposure under credit default swaps (''CDS'') (a form of credit insurance). Asset backed securities and Collateralised Debt Obligations (''CDOs''), which lived up to its cheery nickname Chernobyl Death Obligation, brought the financial system to the edge of collapse...If you assumed that these events meant that wild beast of derivatives would be tamed, then you would be wrong. History tells us that there will be cosmetic changes to the functioning of the market but business as usual will resume in the not too distant futureIf you assumed that these events meant that wild beast of derivatives would be tamed, then you would be wrong. History tells us that there will be cosmetic changes to the functioning of the market but business as usual will resume in the not too distant future.

Dr. Jekyll; Guest Post; Mr. Hyde Finance; Satyajit Das.

Sat 2008-04-12 00:00 EDT

Hillary's Flimsy Case : Rolling Stone

Hillary's Flimsy Case, by Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone; Obama "running as a symbol of a new politics...But if it were to get out that he's not that...then he quickly morphs into a different kind of symbol, a symbol of how an essentially bankrupt political system can seamlessly repackage itself to a fed-up marketplace by making cosmetic changes, without altering its basic nature." "In American politics, always look for the worst possible scenario to emerge triumphant"

Hillary's Flimsy Case; Rolling Stone.