Securitization is nothing more than unrecorded leverage
I could not agree more with this quote from Niall Ferguson. The problem is leverage, and securitization is nothing more than leverage that is not appropriately recorded on the balance sheet. There is no amount of regulation, bank taxes or bonus taxes that will decrease the propensity for the next crisis until that simple recognition is agreed.
Niall Ferguson: This Crisis Didn’t Happen Because Banks Were Too Big | Clusterstock
"I don’t think it was really the banks’ involvement in hedge funds that were nearly as much of a problem as banks involvement in securitized MBS collateralized debt obligations."