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Crisis Didn't Have to Happen, Says Congress

Published: Jan 26, 2011

 Finance       

Remember that little blip on the global economic radar in 2008 and 2009 where millions of people lost their jobs, homes, pride, wives, dogs, husbands, cats, goldfish, shirts, shorts, Buicks, Toyotas, VWs, BMWs and East Hampton estates?

Yes, that one.

Well, after looking into its roots and causes for the past two years, a Congressional panel (called the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission) says it all could've been "avoided."

Oh, shoot.

At any rate, the commission's nearly 600-page report, to be released tomorrow, will point the finger at "two presidential administrations" and "an alphabet soup of regulatory agencies and big players on Wall Street" for the cause of the crisis. The report, which claims that regulators "lacked the political will" to hold the institutions it oversaw accountable, will also "probably reignite debate over the outsize influence of Wall Street."

In addition, it will likely further fuel debate over partisan politics in Washington (the four Republican members of the panel are expected not to endorse the report) as well as put the heat back on Lloyd Blankfein and gang (Goldman Sachs, as the face of everything that went wrong on Wall Street leading up to the financial crisis, will no doubt take a few more shots to the gut and chin when the report's seamiest details are Facebooked around the Web).

(NYT)

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