IT'S HERE ... WHAT CAUSED THE MARKET CRASH

Here's the 2007-2008 market crash report from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) that we've been anticipating for some time now.

FCIC report

A preliminary staff report from the FCIC, that says pretty much the same thing as this 600+ page report (and says it in only 42 pages), can be found here.

Three points, for now, should stand out for the Fox News/Republican crowd:

1. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "followed rather than led Wall Street and other lenders in the rush for fool's gold" (p. 26)

2. Deliquency rates for Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac instruments were "substantially lower" than those purchased and securitized by other private financial firms (i.e. our "shadow banking" system).

3. By the end of 2008 the mortgages that were securitized by private and Wall Street led investors - again, our "shadow banking" system - were far more likely to be "seriously deliquent" than those from Fannie and Freddie (28.3% vs. 6.2%).

No wonder the Republican "Primer" issued in December ommitted the terms "Wall Street," "deregulation," and "shadow banking." Their political and financial overlords are worried that their greed and gambling would be exposed, and they needed some political cover.

If there's any coverage on this report watch for Fox News and Wall Street's apologists in Washington to point to "discord" and "disunity" on the commission, and then hold up the Republican "primer" as evidence of honest dissent.
- Mark