charge of making sure that the value of investments is at least reasonably related to the price that is put on them. in fact, not just someone, there is a whole industry there is a whole part of the financial sector whose job it is to do that. they rate financial products. they give them ratings to help guide consumers as to what they are worth. they issue ratings. they are the ratings agencies. and they are central to the reason wall street cratered. the american economy didn t crater like it had been hit by an asteroid because people were investing in companies that didn t pan out. it wasn t that kind of a collapse. it wasn t that there was a war somewhere and suddenly nobody could get any oil or something. that was not why we had a financial collapse. we had a financial collapse because of fakery. we had a financial collapse because people were buying and selling things at prices that were totally, totally fake. and the people who were selling them knew it. it was a con game that ev
they give them ratings to help guide consumers as to what they are worth. they issue ratings. they are the ratings agencies. and they are central to the reason wall street cratered. the american economy didn t crater like it had been hit by an asteroid because people were investing in companies that didn t pan out. it wasn t that kind of a collapse. it wasn t that there was a war somewhere and suddenly nobody could get any oil or something. that was not why we had a financial collapse. we had a financial collapse because of fake erie. we had a financial collapse because people were buying and selling things at prices that were totally, totally fake. and the people who were selling them knew it. it was a con game that everybody was in on. and when everybody finally had to acknowledge that the actual value of these things that they had been trading at these inflated prices was not the value they had been trading them at, everybody finely had to admit what the real value was of these thin
they give them ratings to help guide consumers as to what they are worth. they issue ratings. they are the ratings agencies. and they are central to the reason wall street cratered. the american economy didn t crater like it had been hit by an asteroid because people were investing in companies that didn t pan out. it wasn t that kind of a collapse. it wasn t that there was a war somewhere and suddenly nobody
to hit this weekend. it may not be as powerful as a hurricane, but it s moving as a crawl which means new orleans canals and levees will be tested by a prolonged rain, up to 15 inches or more are expected, plus a storm surge. we ll get a live update. but first today s stunner from the labor department. the country saw a net gain of no jobs in august. plus no change in the unemployment rate, still 9.1%. it is the worst jobs report in a year. wall street cratered, the dow industrials, s&p and nasdaq all lost more than 2% today. president obama didn t even try to put a positive spin on the news. no on camera statement, not even a written one. we did catch one glimpse of him today as he left for cam david without even turning to wave good-bye. with us now, the president s former economic adviser, christina romer, she s now an economics professor at the university of california. proofgs or, thank you for being here. let me ask you first off whether you saw any good news inside thi