WE NEED A LOT MORE OF SPEECH LIKE THIS

It's not the hard data that Prof. Solow wants but if this meme can catch on, we'll have a better chance of making substantial Wall Street reform.

Goldman admits 'improper' actions in sales of securities
By Greg Gordon and Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Michael Mayo, a managing director and financial services analyst for the U.S. branch of French bank Calyon Securities, rattled off 10 causes of the financial crisis, including excessive investment in real estate, the surge in exotic bets such as credit-default swaps, and the fact that U.S. investment banks allowed leverage — the ratio to which their risks outstripped capital — to approach 40-to-1.

"I'm shocked and amazed more changes have not taken place," Mayo said. "There seems an unwritten premise that Wall Street, exactly how it exists today, is necessary for the economy to work. That's not true. ... Wall Street has done an incredible job at pulling the wool over the eyes of the American people."