Yes, Yes Sub-Prime Mortgages Were Risky...

As I was reading a New York Times article today about the plight of Citigroup's stock price because of their huge losses incurred by mortgage related securities, the usual left-wing Times  found the need to attack the profit hunger of Citigroup by saying, "Instead, it would have its risk managers aggressively look over any shoulder and guard against trading or lending excesses," referring to a meeting where the CEO took the word of Thomas G. Maheras, who oversaw trading, on the safety of the risks Citigroup was taking through its holdings of real estate securities. 

Furthermore, the article continues to blame top executives for the current downfall of the company, whether it be through its stock price or its earnings, by saying that the executives only cared about reaping higher profits and greatly overlooked the risks of the company's actions.

Well, I'd like to say that for one, the Times is talking about something that might have interested people back in September, but at this point I'm sick of hearing the media bash top executives in their quest for profits. When these men were hired, they were hired for their ability to make a company more profitable, and increase value of the company, not to eliminate risk and leave the company in stagnation. It appalls me that critics are stilling holding the drive for profit as harmful to the economy, when in reality such a motive is what drives the gears of the economy, and without it innovation would not occur. 

Moreover, I believe that very few people on Wall Street realized the magnitude of the risk that the companies were taking, thereby creating an environment where mortgage related securities were becoming the "hot asset" to own. Without so many defaults in these loans, perhaps all of these bets would've paid off, and our economy would continue growth, but for some reason or another this didn't occur, and now we're in a recession. Should we lay utter blame on the management of these companies? No, but I do recognize that perhaps they should have better seen what was coming with their holdings.