Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Tommy Boy explains the financial crisis


Chris Farley provides a great illustration for the government spending a decade guaranteeing toxic assets.  I think we all want to know when did the FDIC, Fannie, and Freddie find out that the boxes were full of not pleasant stuff.  

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting. 

Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening. 

Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside. 

Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good. 

Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted? 
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing

Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point? 

Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times. 

Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box? 

Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh**. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me. 

Ted Nelson, Customer: [pause] Okay, I'll buy from you. 

Tommy: Well, that's... 

Tommy, Richard Hayden: ...What? 

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