I think DaveLJ had a great point about this. It is easy to see it all in hindsight, and it is easy to see from the outside. But, in the heat of the momment, in 2001-2005 (when this shit really went bad) it wasnt easy to see. Atleast from the inside that is.
Weither it is stupid or not we tend to measure ourselves against those we compete against. It was a very long series of very small steps in the wrong direction. Banks that didnt play the game didnt make as much money. If they didnt make as much money as the other guys then the stocks fell, boards got unhappy, CEO’s get replaced, tallent gets “adjusted” until they started to play the game. Then, as everyone is playing the game it isnt as profitable as it once was, so the most agressive “producers” tweek it alittle again until the profits return. Then everyone else has to play catchup, and away we go.
That is what they mean that they didnt see it. They were not going from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. They Were going from 0-60 in 4.5 years, and using about 50 gears to do it. It doesnt matter though, because it only matters if we hit 60, and we did and the car fell apart. It all went real slow, gradual, and if they had stopped in 2003 or so, it wouldnt be this bad. But nobody stopped because nobody was incharge of the whistle. So that is why everyone is to blame.
