|
《財(cái)富》書簽:《魯莽有罪》
作者:
Nina Easton
時(shí)間:
2011年08月03日
來源: 財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)
位置:
歡迎來到《財(cái)富》書簽,,通過這個(gè)每周一期新專欄,我們將帶領(lǐng)大家以財(cái)富人的視角來解讀最近新出版的書籍,,了解商界內(nèi)外,。我們邀請(qǐng)了《財(cái)富》雜志(Fortune)的所有員工——從記者、編輯到圖片編輯和設(shè)計(jì)師——來權(quán)衡他們根據(jù)自己口味和愛好所選擇的書籍,。每周我們都會(huì)奉上由不同的《財(cái)富》人撰寫的書評(píng),。本周,妮娜?伊斯頓將帶領(lǐng)大家解讀格瑞琛?摩根森和喬舒華?羅斯的《魯莽有罪》(Reckless Endangerment)一書,。該書向大家揭示了金融危機(jī)幕后鮮為人知的幾位罪魁禍?zhǔn)住?
|
????每次舉國危機(jī)過后出現(xiàn)的歷史敘事總是充斥著批判之辭,同時(shí)不乏教訓(xùn)總結(jié),。但是這種敘事取材于大眾媒體的揣測(cè),,充其量只能算是歷史的初稿,,它們往往只描述了事實(shí)真相的表面——甚至歪曲了真相,。2008年的金融危機(jī)便是其中的一個(gè)例子。
????《魯莽有罪》的作者格瑞琛?摩根森是《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》(New York Times)的財(cái)經(jīng)記者并獲得過普利策獎(jiǎng)(Pulitzer Prize),,該書的另一位作者喬舒華?羅斯從事金融顧問工作,。人們一度普遍認(rèn)為喬治?布什總統(tǒng)和華爾街的貪婪沆瀣一氣,,最終將世界經(jīng)濟(jì)拉入了泥沼。然而該書卻推翻了這一看法,,認(rèn)為罪魁禍?zhǔn)琢碛衅淙恕瑫r(shí),,該書還一進(jìn)步剖析了民主黨的權(quán)力架構(gòu)。
????沒錯(cuò)——當(dāng)奧巴馬總統(tǒng)抱怨他接手了一堆亂攤子時(shí),,他沒有說錯(cuò),;但關(guān)于造成該局面的始作俑者,他卻搞錯(cuò)了,。
????房利美(Fannie Mae)前任首席執(zhí)行官詹姆士?強(qiáng)森在作者所描述的恥辱柱前居于顯要位置,。他是一個(gè)十分有權(quán)勢(shì)的經(jīng)紀(jì)人,多位總統(tǒng)的密交,,同時(shí)擔(dān)任肯尼迪中心(Kennedy Center)的主席,。從1991年至1998年,直到富蘭克林?萊恩斯接替他的職位之前,,強(qiáng)森將房利美公司變成了克林頓執(zhí)政時(shí)期“住者有其居”政策的幕后引擎,。該政策的擁躉包括當(dāng)時(shí)的總統(tǒng)、財(cái)長(zhǎng)羅伯特?魯賓,、住房部部長(zhǎng)亨利?瑟斯納羅斯和安德魯?庫默以及眾議院金融服務(wù)委員會(huì)(House Banking Committee)主席巴尼?弗蘭克等,。為了讓更多的人住有其居,“靈活”的借貸標(biāo)準(zhǔn)成了房利美公司的運(yùn)營(yíng)模式,,推動(dòng)了次貸的激增以及房市的崩盤,。 |
|
|
????Behind every national crisis is a narrative that assigns blame and offers up lessons learned. But this first draft of history, drawn from popular media assumptions, often turns to be superficial -- even wrong. Such is the case with the 2008 financial collapse.
????Reckless Endangerment, by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times business reporter Gretchen Morgenson and financial consultant Joshua Rosner, upends the widely held belief that George Bush and Wall Street greed combined to bring down the world economy. The book offers an alternate list of culprits -- one that doubles as a grand tour of the Democratic Party's power structure.
????Yes -- President Obama is right when he complains that he inherited this mess; he's just wrong about who he inherited it from.
????Front and center in the authors' hall of shame is a figure who has largely escaped scrutiny: Former Fannie Mae CEO James A. Johnson, power broker, friend to presidents, Kennedy Center chair. From 1991 to 1998 -- before he was succeeded by Franklin Raines -- Johnson transformed Fannie Mae into the engine behind Clinton-era "homeownership for all" policies -- enthusiastically backed by the President, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, housing secretaries Henry Cisneros and Andrew Cuomo, and House Banking Committee Chair Barney Frank, among others. "Flexible" lending standards designed to get more people in homes became the Fannie Mae template that led to a rash of subprime mortgages-and a housing crash. |
????作者還在書中寫道,對(duì)于質(zhì)疑“適用房”這一怪獸政策的敵人和官員,,強(qiáng)森和他的房利美民主黨幫兇極力打壓,,然而對(duì)于支持者,他們不遺余力地給予獎(jiǎng)賞(1989年至2009年獻(xiàn)金1億美元用于贊助游說和相關(guān)運(yùn)動(dòng)),。強(qiáng)森之后與國家金融公司(Countrywide Financial)首席執(zhí)行官安吉羅?莫茲羅聯(lián)手(他所創(chuàng)立的抵押貸款模式成為了次貸的代名詞)在房利美公司建立了一個(gè)十分誘人的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)機(jī)制(據(jù)作者估計(jì),,他1998年一年的收入就達(dá)到了2,100萬美元,,之后該機(jī)構(gòu)因會(huì)計(jì)造假而遭到調(diào)查)
????作者記載的這幕現(xiàn)代傳奇中還揭示了很多“幫兇”:投行對(duì)于抵押貸款的資金支持,,美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)主席阿蘭?格林斯潘的貨幣政策,1986年稅種的變化使得上百萬房主加入了房屋凈值貸款的消費(fèi)債務(wù)大軍中,,銀行跨行交易不再受蕭條時(shí)代所推行的格拉斯-斯蒂格爾法案(Glass-Steagall)的限制,,以及1999年共和黨國會(huì)議員和克林頓陣營(yíng)官員(例如魯賓,他仍在利用相關(guān)法律變化從花旗集團(tuán)(Citicorp,,C)牟利)的聯(lián)盟所帶來的變化,。
????然而作者明確表示,如果房利美沒有充當(dāng)放寬征信標(biāo)準(zhǔn)并取消傳統(tǒng)的盡職調(diào)查(所有這些都是以擴(kuò)大有房者比例為幌子)的急先鋒,,因房市泡沫而引發(fā)的金融危機(jī)將不會(huì)發(fā)生,。
????令人遺憾的是,,《魯莽有罪》一書敘述手法不夠流暢,缺乏對(duì)核心當(dāng)事人的采訪,,這也使得它缺乏扣人心弦的魅力,。正因?yàn)槿绱耍@部記錄金融史上重要篇章的著作將損失不少讀者,。民主黨占多數(shù)席位的金融危機(jī)調(diào)查委員會(huì)(Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission)幫助房利美和房地美(Freddie Mac)開脫了大量的罪名,,因此,更多的美國人有必要了解這兩家公司的故事,。作者認(rèn)為必須將強(qiáng)森這樣的角色公布于眾,,他目前所受到的唯一“懲罰”就是自從落選奧巴馬副總統(tǒng)候選人之后他也未能獲得財(cái)長(zhǎng)提名。
????在了解“多德-弗蘭克”(Dodd-Frank)的大名之前,,我們也有必要閱讀此書【Dodd-Frank是奧巴馬總統(tǒng)華爾街改革法案(Wall Street reform bill)的簡(jiǎn)稱】,,這樣我們便能充分體會(huì)其中的諷刺意味:兩位被委以立法重任以預(yù)防下一次金融危機(jī)發(fā)生的人選竟然曾經(jīng)是“房利美事件的忠實(shí)擁躉”。 |
|
|
????Along the way, the authors write, Johnson and his mostly Democratic cohorts at Fannie Mae threatened enemies and regulators who questioned the behemoth's "affordable housing" initiatives, while rewarding supporters (spending $100 million on lobbying and campaign contributions between 1989 and 2009). Johnson courted Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, "founder of the mortgage lender that became synonymous with subprime" and instituted a fabulously rich bonus system at Fannie Mae (the authors estimated he earned $21 million in 1998 alone, and the agency later came under investigation for accounting fraud).
????The authors cite plenty of "enablers" in this saga: Investment banks whose spigot of money flowed through mortgage lenders, Fed chief Alan Greenspan's monetary policies, a 1986 tax change that led millions of homeowners to run up consumer debt on home equity loans, and the fall of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall wall between bank operations, a 1999 change resulting from an alliance of Republican lawmakers and Clinton officials like Rubin (who went on to take advantage of the law's change at Citicorp (C)).
????But they make clear that the financial collapse, the result of a dangerous housing bubble, would not have happened without Fannie Mae leading the way in relaxing underwriting standards and eliminating traditional due diligence -- all in the name of expanding homeownership.
????Reckless Endangerment lacks the rich story-telling style, or interviews with principals, that could have made the book a gripping read. That's too bad, because it will limit the audience for this important contribution to financial history. More Americans need to know the story of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were largely absolved of blame by the Democratic majority on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. More people need to read about figures like Johnson whose only "punishment" so far is that he hasn't been named Treasury Secretary and was dropped from candidate Obama's vice presidential search team.
????And more people need to read this book before they hear the name "Dodd-Frank," short-hand for President Obama's sweeping Wall Street reform bill, so that they can fully appreciate the "irony of having two of the nation's most strident defenders of Fannie Mae" sponsoring legislation designed to prevent the next financial meltdown. |
相關(guān)稿件
|
|