Treasury Department

The Obama White House continues to push for a settlement that would let bankers avoid being punished - or even investigated - for a wave of mortgage-related crimes that includes perjury, tax evasion, and several types of fraud.[1] more »

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In a piece called "Wall Street: Not Guilty," financial columnist Roger Lowenstein attempts to defend Wall Street against allegations that it's a viper's nest of rampant criminality. His mischaracterization, mockery, and vague suggestions of McCarthyism are strident, flat, and fail to get the job done. But Lowenstein's piece is well worth reading, if only as a case study in the moral and cognitive blindness that's reached epidemic proportions in influential Washington and Wall Street circles.

Lowenstein shows us how people who are undoubtedly thoughtful and ethically-minded in their personal lives can lose their way when confronted with complex moral and legal issues, especially ones involving people they know personally. And his misdirection and vituperation suggests how unsettled they become when their worldview is challenged.

It's a shame. The analytical and moral flaws in Lowenstein's piece obscure some of the very sound points he makes about the wrongheadedness of our country's financial culture, a topic that deserves more thoughtful discussion. Without a clear rebuttal, this wrongheaded view is likely to become tomorrow's conventional wisdom.

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The bloggers who attended briefings from a "senior Treasury Department official" last week have interpreted the concept of "deep background" in several different ways. I attended one of the briefings and initially didn't plan to write about it at all. Others did write about it. One writer named the official, while others did not. (I still won't.) Ezra Klein never discussed the meeting, but did address the "meta-discussion." Felix Salmon and Derek Thompson named the attendees, but due to an email mixup there was no name tag for me - which is presumably why neither one mentioned my name, an omission that provided some undoubtedly much-needed ego deflation.

(But come on, guys! If somebody doesn't mention me soon I'll have to give my travel expenses back! Blue suit, gray hair, asked the follow-ups on Social Security and principal writedowns? Doesn't ring a bell? Ezra, will you vouch for me?) more »

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