Comments on: Confusion, Tunneling, And Looting

By: James Kwak

James Kwak — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:21:09 +0000

Thanks, I marked it as spam. Our spam filter usually gets these but it makes mistakes sometimes.

By: Lindsay Kellock

Lindsay Kellock — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:51:24 +0000

I object to mike’s comment. The Baseline Scenario is no place for such communication. It is a serious sight, a serious undertaking and greatly helpful in understanding an overwhelming challenge to each and every one of us.

By: Breaking The Bank « The Baseline Scenario

Breaking The Bank « The Baseline Scenario — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:33:11 +0000

[...] it cannot take over large banks, there is no bankruptcy-type procedure that would work, and only deference to the CEOs of major financial institutions can get us out of this mess. This is a conscious strategy [...]

By: Matthew Yglesias » Tunnelling

Matthew Yglesias » Tunnelling — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:34:13 +0000

[...] is Simon Johnson’s “tunnelling” “borderline legal/illegal smuggling of value out of businesses. As time horizons become [...]

By: Booting the “talent” out of bailed out banks « tangents and digressions

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:59:11 +0000

[...] you don’t earn your riches by selling products to people. Instead, per Simon Johnson here and here, you maximize income by maximizing “tunneling,” i.e. “borderline legal/illegal smuggling of [...]

By: Matthew Yglesias » Should We Fear an Exodus of the Talented from Insolvent Financial Firms

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:14:17 +0000

[...] you don’t earn your riches by selling products to people. Instead, per Simon Johnson here and here, you maximize income by maximizing “tunneling,” i.e. “borderline legal/illegal [...]

By: Causes Of A Great Inflation: Tunneling For Resurrection « The Baseline Scenario

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:42:36 +0000

[...] regard to further bailouts – the Administration may want to help these firms down the road, but this kind of tunneling means Congress will put its foot down. Do you think that President Obama’s $750bn for [...]

By: BEEZERNOTES » Blog Archive » Silver Lining of AIG Bonus Payment Is Pointed Debate

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:27:43 +0000

[...] damage, we have to pay them whatever they want. If you think about it, this is even worse than the looting that takes place when financial systems are in chaos: it’s the financial equivalent of a gun [...]

By: The Tipping Point « The Baseline Scenario

The Tipping Point « The Baseline Scenario — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:41:25 +0000

[...] situation, by contrast, AIG management can choose whom it wants to make whole, which is what makes self-dealing and other sweetheart deals possible. In this context, $165 million in employee bonuses pales against tens of billions of [...]

By: Looting Goes Mainstream (Media) « The Baseline Scenario

Looting Goes Mainstream (Media) « The Baseline Scenario — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:15:33 +0000

[...] a comment » A week ago, Simon wrote his “Confusion, Tunneling, and Looting” post, which argued that the confusion created by crises helps the powerful and [...]

By: markets.aurelius

markets.aurelius — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:02:37 +0000

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTzTYtlNHSG8&refer=home

This partly explains why the courts were avoided vis-a-vis failure to perform on derivatives CONTRACTs, for those not following this too closely.

One is left in a state of slack-jawed amazement at the recklessness on display. To get to a point where one counterparty can lob a $20-BILLION shell into your balance sheet bespeaks an ungodly lack of internal controls, and hubris.

By: markets.aurelius

markets.aurelius — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:33:30 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/business/28melt.html

A textbook example of tunneling, described before it became part of our everyday lexicon thanks to Simon.

By: markets.aurelius

markets.aurelius — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:05:00 +0000

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/aig-bailout-saved-goldman.html

By: Interfluidity

Interfluidity — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:12:46 +0000

Reorganization vs. liquidation…

Kevin Drum and James Surowiecki both take Richard Shelby to task for adv……

By: Envag

Envag — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:31:37 +0000

Are we at the point where we should adopt a classical analysis and look at the future in the categories of Plague, Famine and War – When and in what form will they manifest themselves? Nothing like a fundamental approach when all else fails.