Pre-Post-Election Hangover
In a move that is sure to put to rest the notion that there are no second acts in American life, former Bear Stearns chief risk officer Michael Alix has landed a job in the office of the Federal Reserve charged with assessing the safety and soundness of domestic banking institutions.
We suppose that Alix at least has plenty of experience with unsound banking institutions. He was the chief risk officer of Bear Stearns from 2006 until 2008. So, basically, he was the guy on the mast charged with yelling “iceberg” just before the titantic introduced its bow to a floating hunk of ice. Prior to that he ran credit risk management for Bear from 1996 to 2006, Jon Keehner at Bloomberg points out. That worked out just great.
All the more reason to sleep soundly if, as I predict, the outcome of the election is settled before the clock strikes midnight on the East Coast. (via hilzoy)
Speaking of people failing upwards, I notice that Michael “Hussein” Goldfarb’s “McCain Report” blog has been dormant since October 24 — the last post, fittingly, a taunting of the New York Times entitled “Junk.” It’s now about a week since Goldfarb’s act of public self-exposure on CNN. Surely the run-up to election day is when a candidate would want his communications experts working overtime. Has the third worst McCain campaign hire been put out to pasture? Frankly, I didn’t think McCain had it in him to finally make a not-terrible decision.
