Again I raise the possibility that laws were not broken. There may have been instances of fraud, but its more than likely that the mess was largely the result of of groupthink and really bad decisions made in good faith.
Oh I could certainly agree with that. I forget who said 'never ascribe to mmalice what can be adequately explained by stupidity,' but I've found it an excellent yardstick to judge politics by. As far as investigations go, I am not expecting a big showdown at the OK corral. I am just sick of this meme that it's all one big cozy and corrupt club. There are plenty of people in both the private and public sector who are dedicated to the idea of conducting financial business with both legal and ethical integrity.
Securities litigation is slow because it is complex; additionally, there are sound economic reasons why it is often better to settle for the certainty of large fines than waste time and money on uncertain litigation. It's not as if scores of corporate officers went to prison following the crash of 1929 either. Bad policy often ends up as its own punishment.
its more than likely that the mess was largely the result of of groupthink and really bad decisions made in good faith.
More like bad (but probably legal, and probably profitable) decisions made in bad faith. Anyone with half a brain could see that housing prices would not continue increasing indefinitely. But all the incentives in the industry were to make loans that were likely to head into default.
Securities litigation is slow because it is complex; additionally, there are sound economic reasons why it is often better to settle for the certainty of large fines than waste time and money on uncertain litigation. It's not as if scores of corporate officers went to prison following the crash of 1929 either. Bad policy often ends up as its own punishment.