I wrote last week about the role of the credit ratings agencies in the fiscal crisis from which we are only now furtively beginning to recover. I cited them as a prime candidate for the kind of government regulation I am in favor of--the kind that makes markets more free--not less.
No fan of free markets, Mr. Krugman has a column out this morning in which he aims his bile at the credit ratings agencies and details their decline from honest broker to co-conspirator.
Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.
"Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then."
ReplyDeleteYou or Krugman?
The book "the big short" explains in quite a bit of detail the role the ratings agencies had in the sub-prime market fiasco and is definitely worth the read.
ReplyDeleteOh, and incidentally I agree a ratings agency change is needed.
I'm for regulation in the sense of a disinterested umpire, with not a care as to outcome.
ReplyDeleteBut do we need more regulation here? Why not let the market work. If a company sells information and it's crap, nobody will buy it. If they engage in fraud are there not laws both civil and criminal to address their bad behavior? And if we're going to regulate these folks, where do Fanny and Freddie figure in?