Bethany McLean Quotes

• So Merrill Lynch has launched its first campaign in years to advertise the accomplishments of its investment banking business. The ads feature things like Merrill's recapitalization of Sierra Pacific. I guess including "helping Enron achieve its earnings goals in 1999" might be a little awkward given that Merrill Lynch bankers are currently on trial in Houston for that "accomplishment."

  Bethany McLean

  Years, Accomplishment, Goal

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• Home ownership was the fig leaf for the rise in subprime lending. But that was really about cash-out refinancings, not buying homes.

  Bethany McLean

  Home, Cash, Buying

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• The last and most painful irony is that the two longtime rival armies in the securitization market - the investment banks and the GSEs - would end up magnifying each other's sins rather than keeping each other in check.

  Bethany McLean

  Army, Two, Rivals

  Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera (2011). “All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”, p.189, Penguin

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• I think synergies are a lot like UFOs: Lots of people claim to have seen them, but few can actually prove they exist.

  Bethany McLean

  Thinking, People, Claims

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• Building a portfolio around index funds isn’t really settling for the average. It’s just refusing to believe in magic.

  Bethany McLean

  Believe, Average, Magic

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• No city embraced privatization more eagerly than Chicago, where I live.

  Bethany McLean

  Cities, Chicago, Privatization

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• ... skepticism about past returns is crucial. The truth is, much as you may wish you could know which funds will be hot, you can't - and neither can the legions of advisers and publications that claim they can. That's why building a portfolio around index funds isn't really settling for average. It's just refusing to believe in magic.

  Bethany McLean

  Believe, Past, Average

  4 Copy quote

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