It's interesting that he was a member on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. I had no idea. His book was fabulous and his recent visit with Dylan Ratigan when they talked about Wall Street corruption was fabulous. Lewis did not sign off on either of the final reports, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise if you've followed him. He certainly doesn't buy into the Republican world view of Wall Street and he's not about to tone down his criticism to appease the Democrats either. My personal favorite section of his "all you need to know" report is the moral collapse of the middle class. (Before anyone gets in a huff, obviously he's being sarcastic.)
AIG head Robert Benmosche has recently pointed out that the reason his firm has enjoyed such great success is precisely because it has avoided selling insurance to the large number of Americans who believe, as Benmosche put it, “that the government is responsible for what happens to me.” (As we know, the government is responsible only for what happens to AIG).
The CEO of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon, has often called our attention to the outrageous amount of banker bashing by Americans outside the financial sector, who seek to blame their troubles on others.
Wall Street leaders now understand that they made a mistake, one born of their innocent and trusting nature. They trusted ordinary Americans to behave more responsibly than they themselves ever would, and these ordinary Americans betrayed their trust.
Amazingly, these ordinary Americans don’t even appear to feel guilty for their actions. Like wild animals that have lost their fear of humans, they continue to wander down from the hills to rummage through our garbage cans for sustenance.
