Hello, All. The Golden Turkeys are back again – in my first post-Dechert effort. That means I have fewer folks to help me come up with brilliant ideas and even fewer folks to edit my really bad ideas. So, bear with me while I personally compile my list of things which annoy, amuse or confound me at CrunchedCredit
Rick Jones
The Decay of Responsibility and Courage: Saying the Quiet Bit Out Loud
I’ve been thinking recently about responsibility and intellectual courage. It started with my plumber (Note: Great title for my first novel): “It’s not my mistake and frankly, it’s the wells guy’s job” that reminded me of the line, apocryphally attributed to President Clinton, but actually (most) of the lyrics were from a 1968 hit by the Delphonics:
I…
The Administrative Illuminati in Pursuit of Command and Control (Or the Unmentionable in Hot Pursuit of the Inedible with apologies to Mr. Wilde)
The way we regulate rarely works terribly well for the regulator or the regulated. Yet, we keep doing it the same way…a subspecies of insanity to be sure.
As an example, has anyone out there in CRE land taken a gander at the new Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT) proposed rule? This little gem comes to us…
To All My Readers
…As many of you, perhaps most of you know, I retired from Dechert LLP at the end of June . As Monty Python once said, “I’m not dead yet.” I will continue to be an active participant in our industry through my investment vehicle, Jackstay Ventures LLC, and in other ways. You will all continue to see CrunchedCredit”
Embracing ESG (Carefully)
I really don’t want to talk about ESG. (Actually, I do but pretend I don’t to bolster my well-earned reputation for balance…Hah!). ESG is so politically fraught…one person’s lodestar is another shibboleth. Tribal totem of the left and right! You get on the wrong side of this amongst the majority of the chattering class (e.g., any whiff of failure…
How to Play An (Apparently) Manichean Election
If it really didn’t matter, all this electioneering drama would be good fun, wouldn’t it? Throw in some sex and a car chase and this would work on Netflix! Regrettably, in the real world, it is less than entirely amiable.
It is probably true that most of us are anxious as the election carries so many notes…
Regulatory Contagion
Last year, I wrote a commentary entitled Contagion. That commentary was inspired by the early days of the meltdown of the crypto currency market (long before SBF made the whole space way more notorious with a whiff of polymorphous titillation and the reveal of sad politicians now bereft of a future income stream). The crypto mess…
The Impalpable Reality of Bad News
Why am I still shocked that bad news gets no respect these days? No, I’m serious. It seems it doesn’t really matter when business, political or economic news stinks up the joint. The gestalt teases out a good news narrative.
Just think about it. CPI prints cool… great news! The economy is stable and earnings will keep growing, GDP will…
Legal Opinions, So XX Century! A Modest Proposal
As I’m no longer compelled to talk my book (in fact, I actually don’t have a book), I can now talk critically about legal opinions. Not to bury the lede, but I am of the view that much of our transactional opinion practice is pretty silly and counterproductive. But, on the other hand, I’m also compelled to…
Hey Its the 4th of July! Upcoming Posts from Crunched Credit
Good morning readers. I am taking the week off so my next commentary will come out the following. Hey it’s a holiday week (and I retired from Dechert yesterday…) a terrific coda to a rainy weekend so a week off seems a proportional response!). Next week, it will be the flaws and basic silliness of …