Struggling Financial Crisis Commission Readies Big Show

My Portfolio.com column today is a curtain raiser for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's latest theatrics--a one man show by the Maestro, Alan Greenspan. This will be the first time Greenspan has appeared before an official body since October 2008, when he more or less said that maybe his thinking on regulation didn't work out.

The FCIC has been a big dud. It has issued no subpoenas, and is stumbling along, as the New York Times reported today.

Still, the Wednesday show should be illuminating.

© 2010 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

Why Another Financial Crisis is Inevitable

The big banks know that they are too big too fail.

From today's testimony at the financial crisis commission:

"I think tomorrow in the context of this environment, at some level the government would intervene." "Because of the fragility of the system," [Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd] Blankfein said, the government would be forced to step in.

That's it. No need for further research. The commission might as well pack its bags and go home.

Well, I don't mean that literally. They still need to publish a comprehensive 911-Commission style report. But the key aspect of their mission, which is to prevent another financial crisis, is now moot. There will be one.

In fact. expect another one within the next few years:

At another point, [JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie] Dimon told commission member John W. Thompson, a former chief of the Symantec Corporation: “It’s not a mystery. It’s not a surprise. We know we have crises every 5 or 10 years. My daughter called from school and said, ’Dad, what’s a financial crisis?’ ” Mr. Dimon said he told her that it was an event that occurs every few years.

© 2010 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.