Our Financial Markets: A Confidence Game

Right now our political system is in a state or rot. There are a variety of reasons, crazy teabaggers, sell out Blue Dogs, a media attracted to shiny objects, these are only some of the culprits. But perhaps the biggest one is the deleterious and really deadly effect of corporate money in our political system.

It is this money that allowed the banksters to buy their way out of real reform or any accountability for taking down our economy. And it is this money that is now being laundered through that foreign currency center once known as the Chamber of Commerce, to attack Progressive Democrats and destroy what remains of our social safety net.

So I thought it was a good time to recommend a book that tells the story of how our economy got here-- from a progressive perspective-- putting us on the trail of real world financial assassins. The Confidence Game, written by Bloomberg News Reporter Christine Richard, is the story of a multi-year effort by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman to warn Americans of the many flaws he found in the $2.5 trillion bond insurance market. This included the fact that their AAA ratings-- with their $40 of debt for every dollar they had in the piggy bank--weren't worth the paper they were printed on, or Jamie Dimon's salary for one minute of an average day destroying our financial system.

All Ackman found for himself was trouble when he started speaking up, as he was investigated by George W. Bush's SEC (wow, proof they actually investigated someone!) and smeared by the Wall Street Journal. This is a high stakes story, and I am not making out Ackman to be a saint, but it is important to know what happened to the market, who knew it was happening, and what happens to those in our democracy who speak out against these modern day robber barons.

The Confidence Game is a great read. I'm still counting on everyone going to see Charles Ferguson's new-- very much related-- film, Inside Job, and between the two, I guarantee you, you'll know more about the financial meltdown than any loud-mouthed brothers-in-law who gets all his information from Fox and who plans to make your Thanksgiving unbearable.