The Great Recession Turns One: Five Seminal Moments

3. On December 11, 2008 Bernie Madoff is arrested for pulling off the largest Ponzi scheme in history ($65 billion). The ramifications of his deceit are staggering, but particularly devastated is the Jewish community. This past summer 71-year-old Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail.

4. CNBC sees its ratings rocket as people turn to the business channel for some explanation of what is going on. Sometime thereafter in another regrettable cancellation, Rick Santelli, whose outburst over “loser” homeowners getting a bailout earlier that week had gained him a lot of attention, is a no-show on The Daily Show resulting in this evisceration of CNBC by Stewart. Cramer pushed back at the depiction, before making a rather painful appearance on the show later that week to eat some crow. Both segments below.

5. Business journalism goes Gonzo: In November, 2008, Michael Lewis, who defined Wall St. in the 1980’s with his book Liar’s Poker, publishes a much talked-about, much passed around piece in (soon to be shuttered!) Portfolio called ‘The End‘ about the end of old Wall St. and how it came about. The following spring Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, who made a name for himself covering the last four elections, and is frequently described as the Hunter S. Thompson of his generation, leaves the political sphere (sort of) to tackle the economy. He pens two long pieces between March and July, which among other things are a great reminder of the days when RS and magazine essays were relevant. ‘The Big Takeover‘ was the first (and arguably the best) was about AIG, the second, ‘Inside The Great American Bubble Machine‘ was chock-full of conspiracy theories about Goldman Sach’s role in the collapse. Again, if you haven’t read either of them, you should. This from ‘The Big Takeover’:

It’s over — we’re officially, royally fucked. No empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country’s heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire.

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