The 20/20 View from the Fiscal Giants

As I wrote recently in my Chicago column in Midwest Business, I now occasionally wish that I had added a PhD in economics after I finished my MBA at Cal State Los Angeles in the late 1980s. The reason? In short order we can all expect the coming onslaught of books and talk show appearances (producers booking talent at CNN Lou Dobbs please take note) about 1) What REALLY happened in the fiscal world in 2008; and 2) how certain economists predicted the financial crisis long in advance (hence, their consulting fees are well worth the six figures they wish to command).
In the meantime - and absence the much-needed PhD in economics - I've begun an informal collection of the growing mea culpas from those who surely should have known better in the subprime fantasy days.
Currently up to bat is the quote from the formal press release/resignation letter announcing Robert Rubin's departure from the board of beleaguered Citibank. Rubin, who served as Clinton's Treasury Secretary during both of WJC's terms, simultaneously collected a cool $115 million while (as the Financial Times reported) he endured widespread criticism for "lack of oversight as Citi bet heavily on assets backed by subprime mortgages, and of failing to take responsibility for the company's troubles" (after the Citi board ousted its CEO in late 2007 - when Citi could have done something significant about its loan asset portfolio).
Rubin's mea culpa? "My great regret is that I and so many of us who have been involved in this industry for so long did not recognize the serious possibility of the extreme circumstances that the financial system faces today."
Cough. Cough.
And what about former Fed chair Alan Greenspan, who presided over the fiscal architecture together with his colleague Rubin (pictured together above) in the 1990s that made all of this current maelstrom possible? Here's his comment: "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, was such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and the equity."
Well, hats off for post-mortem candor. Doubtless this list will be growing over the coming months.

Fortuna favet fortibus.