[rayiner]

And you’re 95% certain that bond ratings are what caused the financial crisis?

[walrus01]

no, at a more fundamental level before the ratings agencies ever saw them, the composition of the mortgage-backed securities and their tranches. The number of no-documentation/no-income mortgages that were rolled together into securitized products by the clients of the ratings agencies.

[paulsutter]

So tell us then what it was? Good people doing solid work until they were hit by a random black swan event? That’s the official story and it’s absurd.

[kbenson]

I think the implication is that there were multiple causes from multiple sides, all to varying degrees of culpability.

In other words, bond ratings may not be the cause, but still be a cause.