The Subprime Conspiracy:

By Mike Whitney

May 03, 2010 "Information Clearing House" --Many people now believe that the financial crisis was not an accident.
They think that the Bush administration and the Fed knew what Wall Street was up to and provided their support. This
isn't as far fetched as it sounds. As we will show, it's clear that Bush, Greenspan and many other high-ranking officials
understood the problem with subprime mortgages and knew that a huge asset bubble was emerging that threatened the
economy. But while the housing bubble was more than just an innocent mistake, it doesn't rise to the level of
"conspiracy" which Webster defines as "a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act."
It's actually worse than that, because bubblemaking is the dominant policy, and it's used to overcome the structural
problems in capitalism itself, mainly stagnation.

The whole idea of a conspiracy diverts attention from what really happened. It conjures up a comical vision of top-hat
business tycoons gathered in a smoke-filled room stealthily mapping out the country's future. It ignores the fact, that the
main stakeholders don't need to convene a meeting to know what they want.They already know what they want; they
want a process that helps them to maintain profitability even while the "real" economy remains stuck in the mud.
Historian Robert Brenner has written extensively on this topic and dispels the mistaken view that the economy is
"fundamentally strong". (in the words of former Treasury secretary Henry Paulson) Here's Brenner :

"The current crisis is more serious than the worst previous recession of the postwar period, between 1979 and 1982, and
could conceivably come to rival the Great Depression, though there is no way of really knowing. Economic forecasters
have underestimated how bad it is because they have over-estimated the strength of the real economy and failed to take
into account the extent of its dependence upon a buildup of debt that relied on asset price bubbles. In the U.S., during
the recent business cycle of the years 2001-2007, GDP growth was by far the slowest of the postwar epoch. There was
no increase in private sector employment. The increase in plants and equipment was about a third of the previous, a
postwar low. Real wages were basically flat. There was no increase in median family income for the first time since
World War II. Economic growth was driven entirely by personal consumption and residential investment, made possible
by easy credit and rising house prices. Economic performance was weak, even despite the enormous stimulus from the
housing bubble and the Bush administration's huge federal deficits. Housing by itself accounted for almost one-third of
the growth of GDP and close to half of the increase in employment in the years 2001-2005. It was, therefore, to be
expected that when the housing bubble burst, consumption and residential investment would fall, and the economy
would plunge. " ("Overproduction not Financial Collapse is the Heart of the Crisis", Robert P. Brenner speaks with
Jeong Seong-jin, Asia Pacific Journal)

What Brenner describes is an economy that's flat on its back; an economy that--despite unfunded tax cuts, massive
military spending and gigantic asset bubbles--can barely produce positive growth. The pervasive lethargy of mature
capitalist economies, poses huge challenges for industry bosses who are judged solely on their ability to boost quarterly
profits. Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein and JPM's Jamie Dimon could care less about economic theory, what they're
interested in is making money; how to deploy their capital in a way that maximizes return on investment. "Profits", that's
it. And that's much more difficult in a world that's saturated with overcapacity and flagging demand. The world doesn't
need more widgets or widget-makers. The only way to ensure profitability is to invent an alternate system altogether, a
new universe of financial exotica (CDOs, MBSs, CDSs) that operates independent of the sluggish real economy.
Financialization provides that opportunity. It allows the main players to pump-up the leverage, minimize capital-outlay,
inflate asset prices, and skim off record profits even while the real economy endures severe stagnation.

Financialization provides a path to wealth creation, which is why the sector's portion of total corporate profits is now
nearly 40 percent. It's a way to bypass the pervasive inertia of the production-oriented economy. The Fed's role in this
new paradigm is to create a hospitable environment (low interest rates) for bubble-making so the upward transfer of
wealth can continue without interruption. Bubblemaking is policy.

As we've pointed out in earlier articles, scores of people knew what was going on during the subprime fiasco. But it's
worth a quick review, because Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan, Timothy Geithner, and others have been defending
themselves saying, "Who could have known?".

The FBI knew ("In September 2004, the FBI began publicly warning that there was an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud,
and it predicted that it would produce an economic crisis, if it were not dealt with.") The FDIC knew. ( In testimony
before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, FDIC chairman Sheila Bair confirmed that she not only warned the Fed
of what was going on in 2001, but cited particular regulations (HOEPA) under which the Fed could stop the "unfair,
abusive and deceptive practices" by the banks.) Also Fitch ratings knew, and even Alan Greenspan's good friend and
former Fed governor Ed Gramlich knew. (Gramlich personally warned Greenspan of the surge in predatory lending that
was apparent as early as 2000. Here's a bit of what Gramlich said in the Wall Street Journal:

"I would have liked the Fed to be a leader" in cracking down on predatory lending, Mr. Gramlich, now a
 scholar at the Urban Institute, said in an interview this past week. Knowing it would be controversial with
Mr. Greenspan, whose deregulatory philosophy is well known, Mr. Gramlich broached it to him personally
rather than take it to the full board.

"He was opposed to it, so I didn't really pursue it," says Mr. Gramlich. (Wall Street Journal)

So, Greenspan knew, too. And, according to Elizabeth MacDonald in an article titled "Housing Red flags Ignored":

"One of the nation’s biggest mortgage industry players repeatedly warned the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. and other bank regulators during the housing bubble that the U.S. faced an imminent housing
crash....But bank regulators not only ignored the group's warnings, top Fed officials also went on the airwaves to say the
economy was "building on a sturdy foundation" and a housing crash was "unlikely."

So, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America [MICA] also knew. And, here's a clip from the
Washington Post by former New York governor Eliot Spitzer who accused Bush of being a ‘partner in
crime’ in the subprime fiasco. Spitzer says that the OCC launched “an unprecedented assault on state
legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general just to make sure the looting would continue without
interruption. Here's an except from Spitzer's article:

"In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis....the OCC promulgated new rules that prevented
states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal
government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50
state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules. (Washington Post)

So, the Fed knew, the Treasury knew, the FBI knew, the OCC knew, the FDIC knew, Bush knew, the
Mortgage Insurance Companies of America knew, Fitch ratings knew, all the states Attorneys General
knew, and thousands, of traders, lenders, ratings agency executives, bankers, hedge fund managers, private
equity bosses, regulators knew. Everyone knew, except the unlucky people who were victimized in the
biggest looting operation of all time.

Once again, looking for conspiracy, just diverts attention from the nature of the crime itself. Here's a statement from
former regulator and white collar criminologist William K. Black which helps to clarify the point:

"Fraudulent lenders produce exceptional short-term “profits” through a four-part strategy: extreme growth (Ponzi),
lending to uncreditworthy borrowers, extreme leverage, and minimal loss reserves. These exceptional “profits” defeat
regulatory restrictions and turn private market discipline perverse. The profits also allow the CEO to convert firm assets
for personal benefit through seemingly normal compensation mechanisms. The short-term profits cause stock options to
appreciate. Fraudulent CEOs following this strategy are guaranteed extraordinary income while minimizing risks of
detection and prosecution." (William K. Black, "Epidemics of 'Control Fraud' Lead to Recurrent, Intensifying Bubbles and Crises",
University of Missouri at Kansas City - School of Law)

Black's definition of "control fraud" comes very close to describing what really took place during the subprime mortgage
frenzy. The investment banks and other financial institutions bulked up on garbage loans and complex securities backed
by dodgy mortgages so they could increase leverage and rake off large bonuses for themselves. Clearly, they knew the
underlying collateral was junk, just as they knew that eventually the market would crash and millions of people would
suffer.

But, while its true that Greenspan and the Wall Street mandarins knew how the bubble-game was played; they had no
intention of blowing up the whole system. They simply wanted to inflate the bubble, make their profits, and get out
before the inevitable crash. But, then something went wrong. When Lehman collapsed, the entire financial system
suffered a major heart attack. All of the so-called "experts" models turned out to be wrong.

Here's what happened: Before to the meltdown, the depository "regulated" banks got their funding through the repo
market by exchanging collateral (mainly mortgage-backed securities) for short-term loans with the so-called "shadow
banks" (investment banks, hedge funds, insurers) But after Lehman defaulted, the funding stream was severely impaired
because the prices on mortgage-backed securities kept falling. When the bank-funding system went on the fritz, stocks
went into a nosedive sending panicky investors fleeing for the exits. As unbelievable as it sounds, no one saw this
coming.

The reason that no one anticipated a run on the shadow banking system, is because the basic architecture of the financial
markets has changed dramatically in the last decade due to deregulation. The fundamental structure is different and the
traditional stopgaps have been removed. That's why no one knew what to do during the panic. The general assumption
was that there would be a one-to-one relationship between defaulting subprime mortgages and defaulting mortgage-
backed securities (MBS). That turned out to be a grave miscalculation. The subprimes were only failing at roughly 8
percent rate when the whole secondary market collapsed. Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill explained it best using
a clever analogy. He said, "It's like you have 8 bottles of water and just one of them has arsenic in it. It becomes
impossible to sell any of the other bottles because no one knows which one contains the poison."

And that's exactly what happened. The market for structured debt crashed, stocks began to plummet, and the Fed had
to step in to save the system. Unfortunately, that same deeply-flawed system is being rebuilt brick-by-brick without any
substantive changes.. The Fed and Treasury support this effort, because--as agents of the banks--they are willing to
sacrifice their own credibility to defend the primary profit-generating instruments of the industry leaders. (Goldman,
JPM, etc) That means that Bernanke and Geithner will go to the mat to oppose any additional regulation on derivatives,
securitization and off-balance sheet operations, the same lethal devices that triggered the financial crisis.

So, there was no conspiracy to blow up the financial system, but there is an implicit understanding that the Fed will
serve the interests of Wall Street by facilitating asset bubbles through "accommodative" monetary policy and by
opposing regulation. It's just "business as usual", but it's far more damaging than any conspiracy, because it ensures that
the economy will continue to stagnate, that inequality will continue to grow, and that the gigantic upward transfer of
wealth will continue without pause.

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Comments (47)
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Jim · 12 weeks ago +1

Gee Mike, I don't know. I thought when Elites emailed one another and agree to do something that would help bankrupt
Greece and cause their customers to take a big hit, while the emailers turn a huge profit? Never mind, I'm sure you're right,
there was no conspiracy. Come on Mike who pays you to write this poop.

Reply 1 reply · active 12 weeks ago Report

GORBALT · 12 weeks ago +2

So the FBI knew and warned the public of 'an epidemic of mortgage fraud.' And the FDIC knew and warned the Fed and
offered a remedy too. And Fitch ratings knew and the former Fed governor knew and warned his friend Greenspan.

Of course they knew! Don't you remember - "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and
when we act we create our own reality."

Isn't this reminiscent of 9/11? Remember - the FBI knew but was muzzled from above. The flight schools and simulator
instructors knew and reported suspicious students to the FBI. The governments of seven nations warned Bush of impending
terrorist attacks. And it happened anyway.

Did anyone know about hurricane Katrina? Well, we saw it coming for days ahead of time. Every day on television it drew
closer. There's no denying the government knew about Katrina! And they had knows for years that the dikes were inadequate.
Yet when it struck New Orleans, FEMA was not prepared!"

Whitney is right - no conspiracy is needed, not was one needed for 9/11. Those who could prevent disaster merely have to
make it possible for disaster to happen by means of "accommodative policies." It's called Plausible Deniability. Let it happen.
Play dumb. Express your deep concern. Then collect the profits.

Hey, how's that oil slick doing?

Reply 1 reply · active 12 weeks ago Report

herb · 12 weeks ago +1

The one hand clapping asks the non-hand clapping, "Is the class war a conspiracy?"

Reply Report

Sumshee 2p · 12 weeks ago +1

The "top" in the "system", overall, benefits when the masses, the small people, are held down in dis-advantage.

Reply 1 reply · active 11 weeks ago Report

intotheabyss · 12 weeks ago +2

I knew when Reagan got in that we would end up pretty much, right where we are. It was really obvious if you were paying
attention that the intent was to undo all the protections for the workers in this country that were put in place after the great
depression. The wealthy elites never stop scheming to control the rest of us. The middle class were convinced through media
propaganda to let its guard down. Sadly, many still haven't figured out that they've been targeted for impoverishment. It's "The
Shock Doctrine" turned on the US population. These sociopaths have been playing the same game in small, poorer countries
since the end of WWII. Now it's our turn apparently, along with Greece's and whomever else the criminal class sets its sights
on.

Reply 2 replies · active 9 weeks ago Report

@Nogreymatter · 12 weeks ago -1

The Bush clan along with the wall st clan figured that they made off with the Savings and Loan scam in the 80's and left alot of
money behind.__This gang is working for the Redshield who plan on taking over the world with the help of the zionist clan.__We
the Stupid Americans keep watching the boob tube and forget about working and eating till it's to late.__Check out Eustace
Mulins he will set you stright about who's who.__http://labvirus.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/rip-eustace-mullins/__

Reply Report

-1
 Johnny de Vulcan · 12 weeks ago
I agree with the last speaker; a family that owns all central or National banks, except 7, and who is said (bragged) to own
50%s of all values, must, due to their owning military industrial complexes, polluting chemical plants,polluting oilfields, polluting
air-crafts etc. be pulled into this discussion as being much more influencing the world than ANY politician, Including Obama Bin
Lyin.

Reply Report

Vicky · 12 weeks ago -1

Brenner is full of it. It's not over production. It's the fact that our productive capacity has been exported, our white collar tech
jobs were exported, illegals have flooded our country, and our knowledge jobs have been taken by imported Indians. In other
words, there aren't enough Americans working - making enough money to buy goods as services as they did in the past. And
that was the plan - to drop our standard of living down to the lowest level of everybody else in the world because we are now
under the control of a communist, totalitarian system.

Nothing has happened that wasn't carefully planned for the purpose of bringing this country down.

Reply 7 replies · active 9 weeks ago Report

DeepBlue · 12 weeks ago +2

Mr Whitney:

Thank you for this article; it provided me with the "aha!" moment that has been just out of my reach for so many years.

Beginning in about 2000, I noticed an unnatural climb in housing values. For the life of me I could not understand how any
professional economist could fail to spot what I, a non-economist, could plainly see: a growing economic bubble of potentially
enormous size and dangerousness. In my mind, blaming Greenspan and his cronies for Randian/Objectivist "free market"
strategies was a weak argument, but there was no other explanation available that made any sense - unless one buys into the
"Joos did it to conquer the world" nonsense, which I rejected then and still reject.

Bearing in mind that the purpose of modern, mature capitalism is to maximize profits, rather than safeguard one's resources
(the "old fashioned way") it obviously follows that profitability must be maximized at every possible moment (the "quarter's"
bottom line report to Wall Street), and to hell with the future.

What many have failed to recognize about the securities industry is that it is populated almost exclusively with *salesmen* (on
the whole, a rather unsavory bunch of characters), not financial custodians. Salesmen, by their very shallow nature, are driven
to sell or perish. As you point out, when natural markets are saturated, then salesmen will create new markets, regardless of
actual need. Everything else follows quite logically from that.

As they turned from selling investments in tangibles to selling fantasies, the salesmen created unnatural markets, dreams and
fantasies - one dream of which turned into a huge nightmare.

Reply 1 reply · active 11 weeks ago Report

Johnny de Vulcan · 12 weeks ago 0

P.S.: After W.W.1 the Gemans tried to get through the ridiculous peace-conditions by printing money. In the end you needeed
a wheel-barrow full of 10 Billion Reichmarks to buy a loaf of bread. That same "tecnique" is used in USA today- or tomorrow, if
it is not stopped. As I understand it; in order to facilitate bussiness and general selling and buying the state orders an amount of
money being printed. So they pay for paper, ink, designing, printing, transporting and profit, right? But then , in USA federation,
the state allso pays the printer , as a debt, the AMOUNT PRINTED ON THE NOTE!!!! If this is true-and Rotschilds own the
Fed-bank I would say that Americans have been so royally screwed that they MUST react if they are alive at all.

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