NY Times: From Midwest to M.T.A., Pain From Global Gamble

[marmar]

From Midwest to M.T.A., Pain From Global Gamble

By CHARLES DUHIGG and CARTER DOUGHERTY
Published: November 1, 2008



“People come up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘How did we get suckered into this?’ ”
— Marc Hujik, of the Kenosha, Wis., school board


On a snowy day two years ago, the school board in Whitefish Bay, Wis., gathered to discuss a looming problem: how to plug a gaping hole in the teachers’ retirement plan.

It turned to David W. Noack, a trusted local investment banker, who proposed that the district borrow from overseas and use the money for a complex investment that offered big profits.

“Every three months you’re going to get a payment,” he promised, according to a tape of the meeting. But would it be risky? “There would need to be 15 Enrons” for the district to lose money, he said.

The board and four other nearby districts ultimately invested $200 million in the deal, most of it borrowed from an Irish bank. Without realizing it, the schools were imitating hedge funds.

Half a continent away, New York subway officials were also being wooed by bankers. Officials were told that just as home buyers had embraced adjustable-rate loans, New York could save money by borrowing at lower interest rates that changed every day.

For some of the deals, the officials were encouraged to rely on the same Irish bank as the Wisconsin schools. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/business/02global.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[closeupready]

1. Goodbye, free market (that really wasn't).

It was all more like a shell game.