Credit Rating Agencies and the first Amendment

themaskedanalyst asked:


Part of the reason that we are in the economic mess that we are in is because credit ratings agencies gave wildly overly optimistic assessments of the soundness of corporations and their bonds, and investors relied on those ratings when they made their investment decisions. Enron was given high ratings just 4 days before they went bankrupt. The SEC and Congress want to regulate the Credit ratings agencies and investors are suing them for their incompetence. But the agencies have been able to …

21 comments ↓

#1 stealthbadger on 12.27.09 at 3:28 pm

Look up the Nike v. Kasky case before the Supreme Court – Nike was suing for the right to lie under the 1st Amendment. @.x;

#2 dacherx on 12.28.09 at 6:38 am

Expert opinion sold to general public as a commerical product is not “free speech” is is commerical speech, a commercial product. Companies aren’t people anyway and shouldn’t be protected as such.

#3 fyphfoko on 12.30.09 at 2:10 am

five twinkly stars. they twinkle in my opinion

and your videos remind me of live! tv, with their chello news and bouncy weather ;p

#4 chupamiubre on 01.01.10 at 5:52 am

The problem is they usually are not cooking the books. Enron was a special case but most places are not that good at it if they do it at all.

#5 TerrentiaLive on 01.01.10 at 8:14 am

How are the Credit Rating agencies going to do their job, when the corporations in question are ‘cooking the books’.

#6 Crowz on 01.01.10 at 2:31 pm

YAY HE GOT HIS HEADSET BACK!!@!@#@!

#7 MouseHusic on 01.01.10 at 6:36 pm

OK… so I read it.

Its still entertaining.

#8 xavierartorivs on 01.02.10 at 3:29 am

Those who read the Dallas Morning News didn’t find it entertaining when implied that the guy who tried to bomb Fountain Place (Wells Fargo’s sky scraper) a couple of weeks ago might had seen Fight Club.

#9 MouseHusic on 01.05.10 at 10:01 am

Dude… rules 1 and 2. Ring a bell?

#10 RosieDesire on 01.05.10 at 2:09 pm

Or pretty much anyone that is considered an expert in something: It is my opinion that the DNA matches that of the killer… it is my opinion that these coordinates on the rocket will get it to the moon, it is my opinion that WMDs are stored in that bunker…. hmmmmm

#11 abortedsoul on 01.06.10 at 7:20 am

By the way, it is nice to see you. I didn’t mention that in my first message here, but I thought it.

#12 abortedsoul on 01.08.10 at 10:42 pm

Well, consumers are more than able to sponsor better rating systems. The free market is a powerful thing.

#13 SSanf on 01.10.10 at 7:22 pm

Same thing with a home inspector who looks at your home to determine its soundness before you purchase.

#14 rmac40 on 01.12.10 at 1:57 pm

i love the logic

#15 ProjectPaladin on 01.13.10 at 6:43 am

These “opinions” are widely known in the business to cause decisions to be made in one way or the other because of these ratings… This lawyer won’t get through with that… But then again, we’re talking about american jurisdiction… ;-)

#16 xavierartorivs on 01.15.10 at 1:22 am

Project Mayhem doesn’t sound like such a bad idea now does it?

#17 ladyabaxa on 01.17.10 at 1:45 am

If they didn’t make it clear that their recommendations were opinions (a.k.a. bullshit) then falling back on that when they’re screwing people over left and right is both morally repugnant and borders on fraud. Not all speech is worthy of protection under the first amendment.

#18 soulinite on 01.20.10 at 11:49 am

Thanks for another great youtube video.

#19 TheReasonWhyGuy on 01.22.10 at 10:35 pm

Influence without accountability is the root of corruption.

#20 notfitforsociety on 01.25.10 at 2:31 am

It’s too bad we screwed so many countries on the bogus AAA’s. The dollar is going to shit. But the unregulated market is more at fault I would say, I don’t know, I’m no genius at it and realize there are many factors but we are still in this shit and I just don’t know if we’re going to get out of it without more pain to come.

#21 Brainiac1056 on 01.27.10 at 4:52 am

STOP believe in byrocracy! Just ignore them or at least try to.

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