Investigating Possible Fraud (Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, etc.)

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Oh, of course - that's the only reasonable end-game, but that doesn't really change anything in the big picture, other than a perceived deterrent effect and maybe a misplaced sense of 'justice' or whatever, and neither of these are tangible or show real utility in my mind.

Does it make a huge difference as to the big picture? I agree. No. Absolutely not.

Does it make a bailout a lot more digestible to the general public when officers and maybe directors who are guilty of wrongful malfeasance are walking away with 8-figure bonuses? I think so.

I think that some sort of action involving negative consequences has some political value insofar as making a market bailout more palatable for the voters if you can call that "utility."

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I think that some sort of action involving negative consequences has some political value insofar as making a market bailout more palatable for the voters if you can call that "utility."

Yeah, I don't really - I can see where others could reasonably consider that a benefit, though. This may be related to my distaste with the bailout as endgame, though - if the solution needs to be made more palatable in a political sense, perhaps it should have been handled differently?