Ben, Hank and their magic piggy banks: They'll never see "the end" coming until it's over.

[marmar]

from MarketWatch:



PAUL B. FARRELL
Bubbleonomics & Greenspan's 'magic piggy banks'
Road to big bucks paved with bubbles, meltdowns and big bailouts

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch


ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's done it again. Back in 1996 he defined an era. Then Robert Shiller immortalized it in "Irrational Exuberance."

Well, Alan's done it again. In his updated memoir, "The Age of Turbulence," you'll find the perfect label for the current global credit crisis: "Magic Piggy Banks!"

Shiller should have waited for Greenspan to come up his new zinger. Instead, Shiller jumped on the publishing bandwagon early. As a result, his latest book has a rather boring title: "The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to do About It." But the book's got bigger problems: Shiller's solutions read like a children's fairy tale about a bag full of magical beans.

But more about that in a minute, because this rapidly unfolding drama is a runaway train with fast-breaking news driving a plot choking on greed, arrogance and incompetence. First, Bear Stearns. Then the "Freddie and Fannie Fiasco," a $5.3 trillion insolvency." Now, just a few days after Greenspan's new zinger, a second tragic character appears on stage: The Secretary of the Treasury, announcing America's second huge "Magic Piggy Bank."

Imagine Henry Paulson, former boss of Goldman Sachs, who a year ago appeared with Fed boss Ben Bernanke and made their now-famous joint denial dismissing the subprime-credit crisis: "Contained," they said. Total propaganda, totally false! After five years of regular warnings, only a truly tragic actor would have made such obvious lies a year ago.

So now we have two tragic actors, Ben and Hank, running America's two "Magic Piggy Banks." ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/doomed-turkeys-have-opened-up/story.aspx?guid=%7B261CF94E%2D1041%2D42EB%2D9AE8%2DBB8BA4443C6E%7D