$(document).ready( function () { talk_rendercallback({"enabled":"0","islive":"0","eid":5574,"total":"25","discussion":[{"nm":"Frank J. Rubino","rs":"0","ms":"I recall my history professor in college stated that we continually fail to learn from the mistakes of the past.  He also emphasized that we will continue to do so in the future.   That was said  in the late 1960\'s.  I think we are doomed to fail.  We as a people may ultimately decide to give up some of our freedoms in favor of safety and stability.  When we abuse our freedoms (eg. free markets) we will ultimately loose them.  Therefore it is our individual responsibility as well as our responsibility as a society to not misuse or sidestep our freedoms.  ","pt":"Feb 27, 2010 18:12"},{"nm":"Mayme Trumble","rs":"0","ms":"Get rid of the idea that corporations are people and that money is speech! Neither are true.","pt":"Feb 20, 2010 17:51"},{"nm":"MS SPANG","rs":"0","ms":"I am now going to write all my elected officials. I want to let them know that I watched this program. I will be watching them more closely because my loathing of them now exceedes their greed. ","pt":"Feb 17, 2010 22:00"},{"nm":"Agnes T.","rs":"0","ms":"Brooksley - The lone voice of reason in a house of Bedlam.   Now we are back to the same old players in the current administration.......all playing while Main Street burns and crashes. ","pt":"Feb 17, 2010 17:48"},{"nm":"Kip Walls","rs":"0","ms":"The question that comes out of all of this is &quot;was this orchestrated to steal the liquidity of the United States&quot; and the free world over several decades as retaliation for nationalization of family buinesses prior to 1950 and WWII. If waterboarding and electroshock was ever justified it is to determine the truth! Austria is still finding nazi\'s embedded in its government long after Waldheim was gone from their scene! The US is just beginning its search for truth! Waldheim was reportedly endorsed by Reagan and Bush in a book and served as head of the UN on American soil! In another book it is claimed Clinton was introduced to the CIA by Bush and they funded his run for governor! Seems Hillary made some questionable money from futures transaction while in Arkansas! ","pt":"Feb 17, 2010 07:35"},{"nm":"joe spaulding","rs":"0","ms":"Brooksley Born, WE the true people of the U.S.A. owe you a debt of gratitude, Thank You. Outlaw lobbying then the special interests  would have to do what the politicians have to do convince the people of the US that the plastic crap their selling is worth it. What should happen is vote them all out of their jobs (house, congress) elect honest hard working people, that will do their jobs. These newly elected could start with undoing their set of rules that only apply to them (their health care, retirement) and make them try to find a job in this economy that they and their greed monger friends in the banking sector and corp. have created. This let them eat cake attitude, has fallen many governments. Don\'t they know that SOMOLIA was at one time a developed nation.","pt":"Nov 16, 2009 21:17"},{"nm":"Andre Galaviz","rs":"0","ms":"Are we just going to do nothing???somebody robs a store of $50.00 gets at lease two years in jail.","pt":"Nov 12, 2009 00:25"},{"nm":"Bill Therrien","rs":"0","ms":"Why do we want to depend upon regulation run by a system that is corrupt from the bottom up?  Regulation may seem to be a system where the markets can be controlled preemptively, but what happens when something new comes along like these derivatives?  Then we have to wait for this entire process to happen all over again.  Why not have broad fraud laws on the books to put these people away when they steal from us?  Make an example of the thieves that are working in the marketplace right now.  A shot like that over the bow will convince these people that there will be repercussions for their actions.  We\'ve seen that Congress can be lobbied successfully to get the result Wall Street wants.  I personally do not have faith that our government can or will protect us from this sort of thing happening again simply by regulation.","pt":"Nov  8, 2009 19:15"},{"nm":"Brad","rs":"0","ms":"Rather serendipitously, prior to seeing this episode, I have been reading about the philosophy of Ayn Rand called Objectivism.  Now, I watched this Frontline episode and voila, Stanley Greenspan was a fan!  Wow!  It sounds like a great thing if only we, as a species, didn\'t function on the premise of Social Darwinism, but we do.  In other words, those that &quot;have&quot;, and who are powerful, brilliant, selfish, and who have no concern for the functioning of our civilization as a whole will continue to exploit, sequester, hide and conceal any of their actions in order to TAKE all they can for themselves. They entitle themselves with greed.  Now, the house of cards has blown over in the great wind of the inevitable and at our expense. Once again, this reinforces my disgust over the human condition.  What an oxymoron so many of the Washington elites are:  &quot;Truly Dishonest&quot;!  In fact, I encounter this condition everywhere I go.  I live in California... a mecca for disaster!  I only hope and pray that I can continue to muster strength with the dawning of each day to deal with the reality of life on planet Earth!  I am amazed that nothing was said of our former President Bush during this episode!  Am I to interpret that he was truly &quot;out of the loop&quot; and oblivious to this entire chapter in U.S. History????  I truly commend and admire Brooksley Born.  SHE is the pinnacle of HOPE!  I maintain some semblance of sanity knowing that truly courageous  individuals such as she are among us!  Thank you Brooksley for your inspiration.  Kudos for Stanley Greenspan for at least admitting that his philosophy was wrong!  I wish Ayn Rand were alive to witness this!  This is all just more evidence that the human race needs a police department!  Just read about Lawrence Kohlberg\'s theory on stages of moral development on Wiki or in any Psych 101 text book and you will see how MOST of the human population functions.  Why should Wall Street or the Federal Reserve, or the U.S. Government, or your local school board be any different?   Don\'t ask why this all happened or pontificate on what we need to do.  What we need to do is raise consciousness about what we believe and how we are treating each other on this planet.  ","pt":"Nov  8, 2009 04:58"},{"nm":"robert","rs":"0","ms":"575 TRILLION dollars &quot;invested&quot;? My rough math (please correct me if I am wrong) is that if everyone wanted their investment back and it was paid back at a rate of $575,000 per SECOND it would take about 30 years!","pt":"Nov  7, 2009 11:07"},{"nm":"JOSEPH GAUDIO","rs":"0","ms":" We as Americans can no longer be apathtic we need full view of what goes on in the Banking world. We need to support people like Ron Paul and today not tommorow audit the Federal Reserve.\nWe want the gold stanard back and we want to keep only The American dollar. In no way shape or form do we want currency that is Amero dollar.\nThe American people do not want the constitution trampled  on by the federal reserve it is not even an federal agency in the United States.\nWe also dont want a world bank the Federal Reserve and its counterparts the builderburgs and the Tri Lateral Commision.Remember the Logan act.\nThe American Banking Insitution needs to remember this country is capitalisim, not Socialism We the people rule, no more bail outs. The American Flag is the symbol of Freedom many soliders die for it . Run American Banks with integrity.Thank you Joseph Gaudio","pt":"Nov  3, 2009 18:51"},{"nm":"John Sillren","rs":"0","ms":"Ater having read all those testaments to fix the current system I would only say this: Please, oh, please, make absolutely sure that the greedy pigs, wherever they operate, are taken out and don\'t be fooled into thinking that they are so smart that without them the system would collapse","pt":"Oct 31, 2009 00:05"},{"nm":"Kris Ecklund","rs":"0","ms":"Transparency with timely information for individual and corporate investors instead of black-boxed deceptive practices--what could be unfair about that?  Widows and orphans (and the disabled) have suffered because of black-box practices (e.g., Pacific Gas and Electric\'s bankruptcy due to deregulation and Enron\'s deceptions).  These guys better get it right this time!\n\nFor another knowledgeable woman\'s critique of governmental financial policy, see:\n\n\<a href=&quot;http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/07/obituaries/sylvia-porter-financial-columnist-is-dead-at-77.html&quot;\>http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/07/obituaries/sylvia-porter-financial-columnist-is-dead-at-77.html\<\/a\>","pt":"Oct 27, 2009 11:49"},{"nm":"Larry","rs":"0","ms":"The Wall Street Mafia Insiders are still there running the show.  It is only a matter of time before we have another Disaster.  Why aren\'t these bums kicked out of Washington?  They obviously HAVE NO SHAME!  Some of them do not even submit tax returns because they feel they are above ordinary citizens.  The laws do not apply to them.  Then a brilliant young lady (Born) comes along and tells them the facts of life and they respond by kicking her out of Washington.  This story would be funny if it wasn\'t so tragic to hundreds of millions of people in this country alone.  Obviously our President and Representatives are not up to fixing this problem.  WHY?  It looks like $$$$ to me.  Heaven help us all.  I thought Obama was going to bring change and that is why I voted for him.  At this time he is a BIG Disappointment to me.  From Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama---SAME O SAME O!","pt":"Oct 24, 2009 12:22"},{"nm":"mike barber","rs":"0","ms":"Congratulations PBS, I had always looked at your network as a home for Liberals, but this was absolutely a no holds barred let the chips fall where the may expose.  Enough can\'t be said in defense of Brooksley Born.\nThank you","pt":"Oct 23, 2009 15:46"},{"nm":"matt stickney","rs":"0","ms":"575 trillion invested in derivatives that are totally unregulated ?? Even I see the stupidity in that!\nGreed ,  it\'s the one constant in human nature that we need to regulate out of the markets.\nLet the sun shine in ! Otherwise it will destroy  our financial system if it hasn\'t already !\nI feel like were sitting on top of a bomb.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 23:19"},{"nm":"Cynthia Morimoto","rs":"0","ms":"I respect Greenspan for admitting his philosophy did not work. But now we need to see appropriate regulation!\nIt is scary to think that we will likely have repeats of the recent financial crisis unless we get some oversight protecting the public interest. \nLet\'s presssure our legislators on this topic. \nCynthia Morimoto \n ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 21:03"},{"nm":"Alan C. Lawhon","rs":"0","ms":"Brooksley Born says her worry is that Congress will do too little and this will happen again ...  Sheila Bair says that Congress is engaged and wants to do the right thing - whatever &quot;the right thing&quot; happens to be.  Joseph Stiglitz and Ron Suskind point out that financial industry lobbyists are up on Capitol Hill &quot;pushing back&quot; every day; vigourously resisting any significant change.  In the meantime all these bailouts and &quot;liquidity injections&quot; to keep these institutions afloat have created an enormous debt burden on the American people.  With one to two trillion dollar deficits projected out to the year 2019, there is a real question as to whether all this debt will break the camel\'s back.  There is already talk and (widely denied) &quot;secret discussinos&quot; among various parties outside the United States about abandoning the dollar as the world\'s reserve currency.  We can\'t afford a currency crisis that precedes a true economic disaster.  The simple reality is that Congress - our elected representatives - have to get this right.  If there is a repeat of last year\'s &quot;near death experience&quot; that requires another massive taxpayer bailout, the rest of the world (including our creditors) will lose faith in our ability to meet our obligations.  If that happens, we can all look forward to a much lower standard of living.\n\nAlan C. Lawhon\nHuntsville, Alabama\n","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 20:10"},{"nm":"Sam Hiser","rs":"0","ms":"There will be a painful & ongoing lack of specificity about the new structure of an ideal regulatory framework to cover financial entities & product markets unless product people (from Wall Street) are included in the make-over.\n\nNo reason OTC derivative markets can\'t be put on exchanges & made fully transparent; but which derivatives and what do these exchanges look like and which body oversees them?\n\nI\'d like to appoint Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, Brooksley Born & Arthur Levitt to go into a room for 10 days and come out with The Plan. They might actually welcome the second chance.\n\nSpecificity!\n ","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 15:54"},{"nm":"George Fergus","rs":"0","ms":"Don\'t under-estimate the role of Lawrence Summers in pooh-poohing Brooksley Born and creating this financial debacle.  While President of Harvard University in 2005, he claimed that women were simply not as smart as men in areas like economics!  But now this wolf has again been put in charge of the hen-house as director of the White House\'s economic advisory council.  Apparently, hens need not apply.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 07:47"},{"nm":"poorer for investing in u.s. marketplace","rs":"0","ms":"Brooksley Born, you mite be the only heroic public official left and now you have left, essentially been pushed out the door gratis, greenspan, rubin, sommers & levitt. what a damn shame for our nation. what a mess our financial system is that essential warnings could be so purposely ignored to maintain the pretense of a sturdy growing inventive marketplace while those bullies were in power. and then they were allowed to exit their mess without any real consequences. \nof course we need vigorous oversite of newly invented trading vehicles that require a reciprocating commitment of assets from our credit fiduciary structures. transparent pricing of trading vehicles is what makes our markets believable, dependable. we do not want to place our money in a gulag type trade. \nand JP morgan\'s blythe masters, if it\'s too expensive for you to transparently settle, clear & accurately record all your credit derivative transactions, then let\'s do without these gems. &quot;liquidity&quot; aside, they\'re compromising our financial foundations.","pt":"Oct 22, 2009 00:57"},{"nm":"Kenneth Egan","rs":"0","ms":"our country needs to set a timetable for accomplishing the goals that appear to be understood at this point.  We really need to take gambling out of the economy.  Futures exchanges need to be very limited, and regulatory agencies need clearly defined lines of authority.  In a nutshell, things need to be simplified in order that individuals who make up the enforcement agencies, can know what they should do to enforce.","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 18:56"},{"nm":"Cranky","rs":"0","ms":"Thieves don\'t feel shame or regret.  They also don\'t worry whent they blow other people\'s money.  Wall Street is no different than the Cosa Nostra, so why should they ever voluntarily do anything?  They should have regulated after the collapse; they haven\'t yet and they never will, not until WE stop investing our pensions in crappy funds.  The only way to change the behavior of a punk kid is to withhold their allowance or even better, send them to jail.  ","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 16:25"},{"nm":"Carl Covington","rs":"0","ms":"   Exchange traded funds do not require its equities to perform. Thus, management of funds and/or their equities do not need to perform with integrity in order to receive substantial salaries. There is no share holder &quot;control&quot; of the management. The implication of &quot;control&quot; is a myth.\n   Your presentation of &quot;The Warning&quot; was wonderful! Exposure of the current and future ETF - Equities process that allows significant and unprecedented corporate management greed would be wonderful.  Thanks, Carl","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 14:39"},{"nm":"Jacqueline J.D. Young","rs":"0","ms":"This is like babysitting a \'baby\' vs. a \'kid\': one is too small and delicate to be left alone and the other is big enough but still needs to be monitored for inappropriateness.  The derivatives should have been treated like a \'kid\' - monitored but not baby-ed!  This is also an bad example where the needs of the few (Greenspan et al) outweighed the needs of the many (Americans).  Born was the \'female voice\' of the many whose warnings were taken likely, very lightly.  I believe that being a woman also did not help her cause.\n\nWhen plane disasters occurs and lives are lost, the industry (FAA) usually learns an important lesson and new rules and regulations are quickly put in place.  Why should it be any different for millions and millions of peoples \'live-lihood\'? \n\nThanks\n\nJacqueline Young ","pt":"Oct 21, 2009 09:59"}]}); });