One of the great benefits of living in a country like the United States is the great entertainment value that political maneuvering can provide. Yesterday, we watched an oversight committee attempt to get Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to admit to some sort of wrong doing in regard to the Bank of American takeover of Merrill Lynch.
I didn't intend to watch the whole thing, but it was so silly and amusing that I couldn't help myself, although I did leave from time to time to do some yard work. Luckily, the proceedings were so limited and redundant that I never felt I missed much.
What did we find out? Well since most of us already know that most politicians are secretly clowns, not much. Apparently they are surprised by the following.
1. People who work for Bernanke or the Fed write e-mail that express opinions.
2. People trying to negotiate high level deals use all sorts of tactics.
3. There is reason to question the competence of Bank of America business executives (and in fact most of the banking industry).
4. Just because you blurt out a stupid question doesn't mean you will get a stupid answer.
5. When all else fails ask for every document that might have ever existed about the deal.
6. If you are hoping to get any press or TV time from a silly hearing like this, make sure you don't conflict with the death of a Pop Superstar.
7. If you are going to make allegations based on old e-mails, have your staff check to see if the author has written or said anything more recently that contradicts your point.
8. The hearings may have contributed to the stock market and bond rally that were going on at the same time, so from that perspective they may have had some value.
9. Since it is generally accepted that the deal ended up being a good thing, diving into the process that led to it has little to no benefit if you can't demonstrate some law was broken.
10. Clueless people aren't even very good at 20-20 hindsight.
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