Let me begin with an apology for not being in print for a while.  All that Ho-ho-ho-ing and a lot of mulling over this particular commentary is to blame.  Today, with writer’s block behind me, this commentary is about acknowledging and considering addressing dysfunction in our industry.  

The CRE securitization business never quite seems to reach robust…

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…

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…

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”

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…

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…