As If Today Wasn't Sweet Enough

Yeah, I know we're supposed to be post-partisan now, but I hope it hurt like a mother.

Michael Lewis Tearing It Up

I have always enjoyed reading Michael Lewis, author of "Liar's Poker" but have always considered him to be something of a lightweight. His positive, good-natured spin on his subjects, his cheery tone, his breezy and humorous writing style was fun, but a trifle superficial.

The collapse of the business and culture of investment banking, and the pain that collapse has wrought onto the rest of the economy, seems to have lit some sort of fire in Mikey. Though never veering into anything like righteous indignation, he does come across as more serious --- not to mention peeved --- than I've ever read him.

The first shot of this more serious, concerned Lewis was fired in the pages of Portfolio, a Conde Nast publication that was launched to be a kind of New Gilded Age wank-mag but looks to be turning into its autopsy report. It's a great, comprehensible overview of the chicanery, shenanigans, subterfuges, and magic thinking that created our current financial system collapse. As well as a thumbnail sketch of the culture that created a welcoming environment for it all.

The second shot, popped off in the NYT Opinion pages adds a look at the governmental and institutional (especially the financial ratings institutions) capture by the investment banking culture.

Both are rewarding and enlightening reads.