Here's a scary bit of news: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has hired (subscription required) Michael Alix as a senior vice president in the Bank Supervision Group. His qualification? He was Bear's chief risk officer from 2006 until 2008 when the firm imploded -- due to too much risk. That disaster led to a taxpayer funded emergency sale to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM).But I guess it makes sense in a way. If you want to understand the dangers of excessive risk and leverage, who better to help than the guy who helped blow up one of America's most respected financial institutions. It's kind of like hiring Amy Winehouse to teach kids about the dangers of cocaine.
I wonder how much he'll be paid. Given how much money he's already cost the financial system and taxpayers, he should be working for free. But I somehow doubt that he is.
Economist Paul Kasriel had a good line in The Wall Street Journal: "The Fed is not only the lender of last resort, it's also the employer of last resort."
Maybe so. But at this point, Mr. Alix would probably be better suited to a job scrubbing the fry-o-lator at a fast food restaurant.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-05-2008 @ 2:04PM
BHarrison said...
Yes, "it takes a thief to catch a thief" . . . . but does that give a thief a "pass" from prosecution and going to jail for FRAUD and malfeasance?
Shouldn't this guy be given a "secondary LOWER LEVEL POSITION" to assist and advsie" someone of INTEGRITY, instead of being put in charge of this department at some outrageous salary level?
Guys such as Alix have no business being employed in this manner . . . and it certainly reflects extremely poorly on those who would hire them for such positions, doesn't it?
Obama and Congress need to address matters such as this.
11-05-2008 @ 4:20PM
gloria house said...
Hi CNBC TV Personalities:
It is obvious that CNBC (an affiliate of NBC) is part of what many people call "the liberal media." You have in your ways of presenting things contributed to the election of Obama.
Well, what I have to say deals with the Stock Market, etc. In weeks before the election, while the gap in polls widened between Obama and McCain the Market declined quite a bit, and while the gap in polls tightened, the Market improved. Fox News surveyed about 700 CEOs of Large Companies who largely agreed that an Obama Administration would hurt businesses, due to Obama's position on tax increses for higher income people. Even yesterday many people were a little more optimistic that a McCain Presidency was close to being a reality and the Stock Market closed positively. But today, after the announcement of an Obama presidency, the market closed at a 4 or 5% decline.
You guys should stay out of politics and just report on the markets.
Thanks for listening.
Gloria House