Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Christopher Cox has offered up various excuses as to why the agency he heads is not really at fault.
Treasury Secretary Paulson has pointed out that the root problem is housing and the securitization of mortgages used to finance it. The subprime mess has dragged down investment bank after investment bank, created massive defaults, and posed systemic risk not only to the U.S. but the global economy. Estimates of losses range from $700 billion to $1.3 trillion. During the past several years, Wall Street has peddled these subprime securities issues, often with little understanding of their real risks, and in many cases making no meaningful disclosure of them - but always with its hand out for the fees. The Wall Street party was on, and it was at the investors' expense.
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