THURSDAY JANUARY 14, 2010

Something is missing?

While I do think the economic crisis investigation committee's first meeting was encouraging for its focused questions, there was something noticeably absent from all of the discussion...the government's role in the economic crisis.  The easy path is to blame the economic crisis on the "evil" and "greedy" bankers, and they certainly share some of the blame.

However, any investigation that does not focus on the government's role in the housing "bubble" is incomplete at best and a sham at worst.  Quite frankly, this crisis probably wouldn't have happened or at least would have been far less severe if it were not for the easy money policies of the Fed, the enabling of the mortgage market by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's $1.5 trillion exposure, favorable government policies encouraging homeownership and the failure to enforce existing regulations on the financial markets.

POSTED AT 1899-12-30 08:33:00.0

KEN ENTENMANN, CFA
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND
THE DIRECTOR OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Ken is a Senior Vice President and the Director of the Trust and Investment Services at Alliance Bank, N.A. He has 23 years of investment experience and oversees the management of assets totaling $1 billion. He holds a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. He has also earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trust Division of the New York Banker's Association. He is also a director of the Central New York Community Foundation.

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