Battle of legends: Milken vs. Lipton

Martin Lipton, the legendary lawyer, says the financial crisis stems from the invention of the junk bond so many years ago. As the New York Times notes, Michael Milken begs to differ. He tells the paper that junk bonds--as well as all the CDOs that invested in them--have precious little in common with subprime mortgages. And he has a point; one could argue that junk bonds in and of themselves are neither good, nor bad. It's what you do with them. Same goes for securitization. In both cases, there can be excesses. In general, Milken has a lot to say about the mess, including a bit about how more regulation will not help. I find it interesting that he has made himself a revered, somewhat nostalgic feature. Even Rudy Giuliani, the man who put him in jail, agrees. 

For more:
- here's the Times article

Related Articles:
Marty Lipton's many roles
How much private equity blood will spill?
Junk bonds now a majority of all debt, first time in 25 years