This is the official report written by the Commission appointed by President Obama to delve into the reasons why the United States went through an unprecedented financial crisis in 2008 and what if anything can be done to prevent its reoccurrence in the future. Six Democratic members were appointed by the President and 4 Republican members were appointed by the Republican leadership in the Congress. The first thing you need to know is that historically these commissions are appointed in general to give the sitting President "Cover". What this means is that if the country has a serious problem, a crisis if you will - the government needs to BUY TIME. Somebody has to pay for the crime in the eyes of the public. What the current officeholders need to do is put some space between the public's anger, and the event that took place. Only the passage of time is what will allow the public's anger to soften. This commission is no different in strategy and tactics than any other commission at any time in the last several decades.
The members do not go too far, and they do not delve too deeply. What needs to remain hidden remains hidden? Deals are struck on both sides that allow the Republicans to bury what they need buried, and the Democrats get the same tradeoff. The guilty are protected because the guilty may have been responsible for millions of dollars in contributions to the sitting politicians or their organizations. I am telling you this, so you do not go into the document blind, which most readers will. The aforesaid represents the dark side of politics, and as Americans if we look for it, and know that it exists, we will be better served in our decisions as to how the government should govern, and what we can expect from our elected officials.
Now let's explore the results of the Commission's findings. The main conclusions are the following:
* WE CONCLUDE THIS FINANCIAL CRISIS WAS AVOIDABLE
* WE CONCLUDE THE GOVERNMENT WAS ILL PREPARED FOR THE CRISIS
* WE CONCLUDE THERE WAS A SYSTEMIC BREAKDOWN IN ACCOUNTABILITY AND ETHICS
* WE CONCLUDE THE FAILURES OF CREDIT RATING AGENCIES WERE ESSENTIAL COGS IN THE WHEEL OF FINANCIAL DESTRUCTION
Now there were other conclusions involving the breakdown in accountability and ethics, as well as collapsing mortgage-lending standards. We also know that over the counter derivatives were a big factor in the crisis. I have read the 450 pages of narrative, and this was done by underlining, and annotating in the margins. The report was very well done, and it is in depth. It is also highly readable, and there is very little gibberish, doublespeak, or confusing jargon. I believe that the conclusions are generally right and spot on accurate. There are five parts to the document. They are:
I Crisis on the Horizon
II Setting the Stage
III The Boom and Bust
IV The Unraveling
V the Aftershocks
There were also dissenters to the Report, and this is very common. It is very difficult to get universal agreement and even congeniality among such a disparate group of individuals with differing experiences. There is also the issue of the government's behavior in launching an attempt to drive Bear Stearns into bankruptcy and then forcibly merging it into Morgan Chase, while then subsequently forcing Lehman into total liquidation. With Bear you give comfort to the markets that the government stands ready to save institutions, and then with Lehman, you take the comfort completely aware. The question that should be asked is what was the real deal here? I always ask who BENEFITS? Even better yet as they said in Watergate - FOLLOW THE MONEY.
One of the areas that the Committee did not explore is whether or not there was foreign intervention in the actual crisis whereby America's weakness at a specific moment was exploited to potentially bring down the economy. This may sound conspiratorial and sinister, but this is world power politics we are talking about, and when countries are competing for supremacy, you must leave no stone unturned in determining what went down. At any moment in time a well funded group outside the United States could have engineered a massive shorting that would basically have gone undetected, and remain so. The national security apparatus would have eventually found out, but there are reasons to leave certain truths in the dark. It simply does not serve a political expedient at this time.
It is my suggestion that Americans take a serious look at this official report. It is chockfull of vital information that you need to make informed decisions about. This includes the actions and lack of actions by our government at a moment of crisis that could have easily led to our economy going over the cliff into the abyss. So much of America is reliant at the current moment on the good faith of each party for transactions that amount to hundreds of billions of dollars on a daily basis.
As an example we now know for the first time that the American investment banking model has failed. Firms like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns can never be again. The investment banking model on which they were based is now deemed to be flawed. They were financing their operations using leverage approaching 40 to 1 with overnight borrowings. Such borrowings were and remain subject to immediate interruption or even rescission, and that is what happened in each case. You will remember that after their fall, the FEDERAL RESERVE WINDOW which means the ability to borrow billions at very low to no interest rates was OPENED IMMEDIATELY to all remaining investment banks. You have to ask WHY, WHY, AND WHY AGAIN? Who picked the timing? Why were Bear Stearns and Lehman destroyed rather than saved. More importantly why was Bear forced into JP Morgan Chase, and Lehman's remnants went to Barclay's Bank? Who are the players behind the players? These are questions and answers which we must ferret out the answers to, individually by ourselves. They are not forthcoming.
CONCLUSION
In a democracy it is up to us the people to dictate the will of the government. In our founding documents, it begins, "We the people", not we the government. These values are still worth fighting for and dying for. This book, "The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report" is an important document that every American should take a look at, and read if they can find the time? The stakes are high, and we have barely averted a potential DEPRESSION causing crisis once. We survived the crisis. It does not mean there will not be others, because at the moment the politicians on both sides lack the political will to be upfront with the American people about our challenges and the potential solutions. Good luck to all of us, and thank you for reading this review.
Richard C. Stoyeck
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Top reviews from other countries
Javier Paz Valbuena
Really poor version — beware it’s not the official version of the report
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 17, 2021
Really poor version — beware it’s not the official version of the report
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 17, 2021
Very poorly edited version of a document perfectly edited and available online as a free pdf. The very least after paying for this is that it is properly formatted and not a cramped poorly edited version trying to include the original 663 pages into just 269. Also the fact that I have an oficial report with pages that do not match those of the official report is also quite frustrating. The content seems to be all in there, though.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 17, 2021
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Malcolm Rodgers
Yet still at the compilation stage they have managed to produce a report that reads like a hollywood movie script
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 11, 2015Trading Central
Financial History Like No Other Description
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 18, 2013Rehesal
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report OFFICIAL VERSION
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on December 30, 2018
