Financial Crisis Explained, Rock and Roll Style

Why isn't Wall St in Jail? (Via Rolling Stone)

Rolling Stone does an excellent job of condensing the scandal so the reader is properly enraged.

If I was forced to commit the biggest crime in history, institutional financial fraud would be the hands down winner. I would make sure to do it in the United States because you could get your head handed to you in the wrong country. It is little understood by the public. The public does not see itself as a victim. If you don't believe me, then riddle me this:

1) Why aren't more financiers in jail? Tons of them went to jail after the S&L mess.

2) Why isn't the public pissed and calling for heads?

As in illustrator, I'm asked to boil things down to a simple thought. Let me try to boil this down.

The meltdown is bankers making bets with money they didn't have. Those bets blew up. The government decided it was best if you and I pay the bets and save the banks. That's why you lost your job, have to take a cut in pay, pay more for less, and why your clients have smaller or nonexistant budgets. It's part of settling the bet.

Pissed yet?

Great!