Blame The Longs

Posted by John Carney, Jul 31, 2008, 4:00pm

Dennis Berman digs up a fascinating excerpt on short-selling from the 1932 hearings on the stock market crash. it's a shame we don't seem to have anyone in Congress now even capable of formulating the question asked by New York Congressman Frank Oliver: "They blamed the 'shorts,' whereas, as a matter of fact, if the prices were inflated, they should have blamed the 'longs' for having inflated them?"

0Recommend this! 17Comments

Comments

1

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:28PM

Ah, thanks Dennis.

Can you find some testimony from the Danish kings following the tullip craze. The older the better.

2

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:29PM

Ah, thanks Dennis.

Can you find some testimony from the Danish kings following the tullip craze. The older the better.

3

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:32PM

found a similar article, for those of you who are uber-nerds, in JSTOR. it deals with people blaming commodity prices increases in the late 40's.

4

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:33PM

please change your lehman poll.
thanks.

5

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:37PM

why, 4:33? fuld's fate is still hangs.

6

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 4:38PM

How can politicians pander to the voters and create villains that need to be regulated into submission if politicians are forced to deal with facts?

If Sarbanes-Oxley taught us anything it was that it is the American way to legislate after the fact so we get all the costs of regulation and none of the benefits.

7

Posted by blndebnker, Jul 31, 2008 4:49PM

@3 - Wow JSTOR. I haven't heard that since college. Good lord man.

8

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 5:02PM

uh, wasn't the tulip (one 'l') bubble in Holland... which would make them Dutch... not Danish ..

9

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 5:09PM

If you dig more, for you uber-nerds log onto JSTOR, you can find many investigations of commodity price manipulation by speculators dating back to WWI

10

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 5:30PM

@8 Yes. I have a few memos that need a good editor. What's your hourly rate?

11

Posted by a dead horse, Jul 31, 2008 5:43PM

It's funny because at the end of the day, it's the same villains - hedge funds and their ilk. As long as you blame the people trading the securities and not the people who, y'know, fucked up the companies, it doesn't matter which way you point the blame.

12

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 5:58PM

Then again there was a case of a CEO shorting his own bank. Some thought that fiducially irresponsible.

13

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 6:27PM

hahaha, i heard JSTOR,
I'm in college and i use JSTOR.
good stuff.

14

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 7:36PM

There are scapegoats and there are villains. Distinquishing between the two is one of the major inquiries of life.

15

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 7:50PM

Once upon a time, Congress had active committees and subcommittees that weren't afraid to use their subpoena power, developed evidence, and fully considered an issue before legislating. Both parties participated in the process. Sometimes a national consensus would develop. Sometimes, even, a President would lead the iniative.

Now we have a few appointed men consider a crisis over a week-end and act unilaterally if they believe they can. At most they present their solution to a cowed Congress and expect the immediate enactment of legislation that will create long-term, far-reaching effects.

16

Posted by guest, Aug 01, 2008 12:48AM

how has no one pointed out that oliver's statement just might be the smartest thing ever said by a congressman

17

Posted by guest, Aug 01, 2008 9:14AM

15: Which TV docudrama was that then?

Post Your Comment