Here's Peter Robinson's take on Clifford Asness and the new nervousness among the business community.
At a party the following evening, a partner at a private equity fund told the table about his banker friends. "They're just outraged," he said.
First, the administration had forced the bankers to accept government money to strengthen their balance sheets. Then it had excoriated them for failing to lend amounts that would have weakened their balance sheets. Now? The bankers just want the government off their backs--but the administration is refusing to let them repay the capital they had never wanted in the first place.
Why haven't the bankers spoken out?
"These days," the private equity partner replied, "the government owns the banks. Nobody's going to speak out against his owners, right? That's just basic business practice. At least that's what the bankers are all saying to themselves."
Here's Asness' original post. If you haven't yet, read the whole thing.
I've never seen the business community this concerned.
