Beyond belief – Emanuel Pleitez
I’ve seen some absurd comments, but this one has to be among the most impressive. I almost have to believe that this is a joke (from the NY Times):
Of course, mistakes were made on Wall Street, says Emanuel Pleitez, a 26-year-old former Goldman Sachs employee who quit his job a few months ago to run for Congress in his hometown, Los Angeles. But to a great extent, he says, those mistakes were born of misplaced trust.
“Look, you can talk about collateralized debt obligations all day long,” he said, referring to a type of asset-backed security that has gone famously toxic. “But there were ratings agencies that were supposed to tell us how risky these securities were. We essentially closed our eyes and said, ‘O.K., you say this is rated triple-A, fine, I believe you.’ ” In hindsight, he said, “Everyone should have been more skeptical.”
Yes, clearly the poor traders and bankers at Goldman were led astray by a nefarious plan by the devious ratings agencies.
The degree of self delusion and lunacy in that statement is truly mind boggling. Small surprise Mr. Pleitez is running for Congress.
Fat Tails and Leverage 
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