Reply #11: Do the letters AAA mean anything

[gmpierce]

Most non-profits and quasi-public agencies were limited by law to investments rated AAA. In many cases, the "financial managers" really knew very little about investments - beyond the AAA rating.

They had the AAA and the advice of "consultants". By the way, most of the consultants were being paid by the Wall St. companies that created the financial products they were recommending.

So who was most to blame: the idiots who were supposed to be managing the investments, Standard and Poors, the consultants who were recommending whatever paid the best commissions?