Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
In "Wow, Jon Corzine -- Way To Fly Your Company Into A Mountain," Business Insider describes how the former New Jersey governor led MF Global to bankruptcy by betting the entire company on global markets:
Specifically, the former head of Goldman Sachs and governor of New Jersey authorized his traders to scarf up $6 billion in bonds issued by Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Ireland. The bet, presumably, was that the powers-that-be in Europe would bail out these and other bondholders to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar, because in our global bailout spree, that's what powers-that-be do.
Oops.
And yes, this is precisely the same man the Obama administration floated to replace the already-bad-enough Tim Geithner.
Oh, and the company is also being investigated by federal regulators after the discovery that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing, according to reports.
Does this even hurt his chances of becoming Treasury Secretary? I wish I could say it did. In this administration, it's probably considered a burnishing of the resume.
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Sep '10
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
Corzine is headed for jail even his old GS "friends" are running away from him.
Jun '10
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
"It's like the old saying goes, 'you have to drive a bunch of money out in to the desert and set it on fire to make money.'" --the onion.
Edited on Nov 1, 2011 at 7:37amJun '10
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Our professional political class is full of people like John Corzine. The looting of our national economy continues apace. We were informed when the term "trillions" in debt made its way into the lexicon. The day of reckoning is nigh.
Sep '11
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
When I skimmed this post the first time, I saw "former New Jersey overlord."
Dec '10
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
There's a saying in civil service rarely heard outside the halls of government...[expletive] up, move up. The Peter Principle is in full effect (sometimes with an extra step) in government.
Mar '11
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
Perfect. It will set him up for 2014, when Bernake's term expires, to become the next Fed Chair. After all the Fed just approved MF Global to become one of the Primary Dealers only eight months ago, apparently he's their kind of guy. Eight months from one of the elite 22 into bankruptcy, sounds like just who we need in Washington.
Oct '10
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
Blodget's column that you link to is certainly worth reading. My sincere hope is this is the beginning of the end of bailouts to creditors of financial institutions.
Forget Dodd Frank, Glass Steagall, whatever, the group of people that are supposed to be "regulating" financial firms and enforcing discipline are creditors.
Creditors do not share in the upside of risky bets, and under normal circumstances, have a big incentive to closely monitor the firms they lend to.
But in the case of financial institutions, that incentive to enforce discipline had been eroded by three decades of financial institution bailouts. My hope is that this bankruptcy is a step in the right direction.
Sep '11
Re: Corzine Totally Freed Up for Treasury Secretary Now
Someone should have reminded Corzine that we use a special term for when people in the private sector manage other people's money the way governors and senators do: "fraud."