It's almost too easy now

Material for this blog comes almost too easily these days, the latest example being this none-too-flattering commentary($) in today's Wall Street Journal.

Thanks, Greenspan
Alan Greenspan was an ideal central banker -- at least, as far as investment banks were concerned. Whenever their profitability was threatened, the former Federal Reserve chairman rode to the rescue. Now he's being rewarded with a job advising Deutsche Bank. Yet this appointment comes at a time when the consequences of Mr. Greenspan's policies are shaking Wall Street to its foundations.

Mr. Greenspan assisted investment banks in many ways. His general opposition to financial regulation made life easier for hedge funds, which became a major source of profits. When investment banks got into hot water after the tech bubble burst, the Fed chief had little to say on their abuse of conflicts of interest.

Even more important for the banks' profits was Mr. Greenspan's policy of boosting the economy by keeping short-term rates well below long-term yields. This "carry trade" became a license to print money for the investment banks' proprietary trading desks and fixed-income departments.
...
It's a strange time to be turning to the Maestro for advice.

Strange indeed.

Having spent more than a decade as an engineer in the aerospace/defense business, this looks a lot like how some deals get done within the military procurement system - upon their retirement, the colonels who pushed for the purchase of systems offered by my employer always seemed to show up in an office somewhere between mine and those on "Mahogany Row".

This would be the equivalent of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff getting hired by Lockheed-Martin after he retired only to see the new $200 billion fighter program crash and burn.