Academic

Monday?

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

This news about Lehman and AIG and Merrill is all more than a bit disorienting. "Chaos" is the word of the day in news reports.

What is going to happen on Monday?

Some people are talking about a massive sell-off of securities, but the early activity in Australia does not suggest historic movement. U.S. stock futures are down about 2.5%, but given the recent volatility in this market, that almost seems normal.

The big issue, going forward, is how the events of this year reshape our regulatory system. In a decade, will we look back on Bear Stearns, Frannie, and Lehman -- oh, and have you been paying attention to the problems at WaMu? -- in the same way that we look back on Enron?

My guess: no. Enron will be too modest an analog. By the time the dust settles, the New Deal will seem the more apt comparison.

By the way, let me second the praise for John Carney at Dealbreaker. John is all over this story, and we all benefit.

Full post as published by Conglomerate on September 14, 2008 (boomark / email).