By Binyamin Appelbaum | New York Times
The financial crisis was caused in part by widespread fraud, which may seem like an obvious point. But it remains surprisingly controversial.
President Obama and other public officials, seeking to explain why so few people have gone to jail, have argued in recent years that much of what happened in the go-go years before the crisis was reprehensible but, alas, legal.
You will not be surprised to learn that many financial executives share this view — at least the part about the legality of their actions — and that a fair number of academics have come forward to defend the honor of lenders.
