P-PIP Hooray?!
Stumbled across a frightening story in the Financial Times (sad when terror can be found in the pages of a financial rag, but these are those kind of days!) A couple of weeks ago, when writing in FT about the fed's Public-Private Investment Program, Lucien Bebchuk asked this question: "Should banks with large amounts of troubled assets be allowed to participate as managers or investors in funds set up under the US’s public-private investment programme?" I'm astonished that such a question is even being asked. Apparently, it is not merely rhetorical. According to Bebchuck, "media reports indicate that some such banks are considering participating in funds established under the administration’s programme." I've learned lately that Wall Street is an alternative universe, a place where bonuses are not rewards for successful behavior, but legal obligations bankrupt firms must honor no matter what. A place where great brains thought it would pr...