How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"They should have taken the CEO out and hung him by the f***ing testicles. Instead they sold the company and the CEO made a hundred million dollars." (1.46)
Colorful language aside, this quote gets at the hypocrisy of financial organizations heading up to the 2008 stock market crash. The wages for Wall Street employees have skyrocketed across the board, even when the employees in question are actually losing money for their companies. What the what?
Quote #2
The less transparent the market and the more complicated the securities, the more money the trading desks at big Wall Street firms can make from the argument. (3.43)
In other words, Wall Street makes more money if it can confuse outsiders and prevent them from knowing what's actually going on. And here's the thing: if you give someone an incentive like that, you can bet your bottom dollar that they're going to take advantage of it. That is, unless they've already invested that bottom dollar in mortgage bonds.
Quote #3
Rather than cave to the pressure, Lippmann instead had an idea for making it vanish: kill the new market. (3.54)
Of all the people who short-sell the subprime bond market, Lippmann is the least principled and the most hypocritical. He has zero concern for the actual ethical issues underlining the industry and is only worried about making some sweet cash for himself.