How Moody’s contributed to the subprime crunch

When you have a better operating margin than ExxonMobil and your CEO is trying to improve it, you’re probably going to be a soft touch for creative new financing vehicles.

Even though the standards at many lenders declined precipitously during the boom, rating agencies did not take that into account. The agencies maintained that it was not their responsibility to assess the quality of each and every mortgage loan tossed into a pool.

Then what the hell were you rating? Or why were you in this business?

The full story, which focuses on Moody’s in the last decade, probably could apply to Fitch’s and S&P about as well.