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.

Fbomber's Social Laws:Part 1

Reading the print and online commentary about the Federal Wall Street Junk Buy-Up/Bailout has made the fbomber realize two hard facts about human beings.

1. The Fbomber's Competency/Certitude Inverse Correlative: The less able an individual is to successfully manage even the smallest aspects of his/her own life, the more sure he/she is of how to manage the biggest issues of the world.

AKA Blogger's Law, Politician's Postulate, Economist's Axiom, and Op-Ed Writer's Fundamental.

2. The Fbomber's Professional Wardrobe/Utility Paradox: The less valuable a service a profession provides, the better that profession dresses.

Brain surgeons save your life wearing pyjamas made out of green bedsheets. Investment bankers push around crap investments wearing $6,000 Brioni suits.

As proof of this law's accuracy, consider that this law predicts that hookers provide the maximum possibility utility to customers, as they perform their job completely naked. QED, homies.