Some Musings on Citi

I have some further thoughts on the Citigroup bailout at Portfolio.com.

UPDATE: Great minds think alike, apparently. On Tuesday, both the New York Post and Wall Street Journal endorsed one of my suggestions, which is that the board of Citi be pushed out. The Post did so in its usual understated manner:

[The Journal] asked:"When taxpayers are being asked to provide the equivalent of $1,000 each in guarantees on Citi's dubious investments, how can these men possibly deserve to remain on the board?"

"If taxpayers have to risk so much to save Citigroup, then regulators should at least exert the discipline to break up this behemoth so it is never again too big to succeed, much less fail," the Journal concluded.

In a brief statement in response, Citigroup said its board "has diligently carried out its responsibilities during one of the most severe market downturns in decades."

The tabloid Post published photos of current board members as well as former director Rubin under the headlines: "Bozo bankers" and "Off with their heads".

"Some of them are already gone," the Post said. "If those who remain had any sense of decency, they'd simply quit."

Actually they're not bozos, which is the tragic part of this whole thing.

© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.