You must see this clip. Nassim Taleb goes after Bob Rubin, former chairman of Citigroup and a few others even though he was asked by the organizers not to be specific in individual criticism.
As usual, Taleb delivers the right mix of sarcasm and pointed jabs to knock his prey senseless, as he issues a siren call to nationalize the failed banks.
After the jump we have video of Davos' speeches by former President Clinton, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, Russian Leader Vladimir Putin, plus more from Stiglitz and Kahneman.
This is a 7 minute clip from the recent World Economic Forum at Davos. Noble Economics Laureate and former chief economist at the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz tells the truth about the government bailouts. He touches on everything from AIG, to CDS, leverage on wall street, the bad bank proposal and our burgeoning national debt. It's great watching, not wonkish, and very easy to follow.
Higlights: bad bank is cash for trash, aig is a never-ending black hole, and stupid bankers and their leverage made this crisis much worse.
These are all points we have been making here on a daily basis, and it's helpful for our sanity to learn that Stiglitz is of the same mind. Attention Obama: get Stiglitz on your team quickly, your opportunity to fix the banks fades daily as more taxpayers discover that your plan is nothing but Bush Paulson 2.0.
Noble Laureate Daniel Kahneman on Greenspan's failures, 3 minutes.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, 55 minutes.
Vladimir Putin, 1 hour 13 minutes.
Daniel Kahneman and Nassim Taleb, 59 minutes.
German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, 23 minutes.
Former President, Bill Clinton can't stay away from Davos, 28 minutes.