[adapted from blog: naked capitalism]
What did they say moments in Financial Crisis:
Irving Fisher, renowned economist, one week before the crash of 1929:
“Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
[My Notes: This tells us that economists and stock market investing are completely different vocations]
Ben Bernanke in his March 2007 Congress testimony:
“The subprime crisis is contained. Losses at most will be $50 to $100 billion.”
[My Notes: We know what happened to subprime, rather, what subprime did to the world. The losses have come in trillions, and, still counting.]
Hank Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary, on why he wanted immense powers to manage the Freddie mae / Fannie Mae problems:
“If you’ve got a bazooka, and people know you’ve got it, you may not have to take it out.”
[My Notes: the markets have a nasty way of calling bluffs. Paulson put Fannie and Freddie into conservatorship less than two months after his comment.]
Now, we have a Euro Crisis Moment:
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Geithner’s moment may have arrived. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, he said:
“Europe has the capacity to manage through this, And I think they will.”