It's a sign of immaturity of the bitcoin economy that there's no trustworthy effective bitcoin shorting options- even if you don't wish to speculate, but because you wish to hedge your exposure to bitcoin volatility (say you're a large ecommerce player, with significant bitcoin holdings- you're effectively long bitcoin - and you don't want those holdings to halve in value overnight).
[1] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/counterpartyrisk.asp
[2] http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0393...
If you are a Taleb fan (or just curious), check out this critique of his work:
[0] http://quixoticfinance.com/tag/nassim-taleb/
[1] http://unpleasantfacts.com/falken-on-taleb
People who actually predicted the crisis
[2] http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Trade-Ever-Behind-Scenes/dp/0...
[3] http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Short-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0393...
Yes, there was/is blame to be placed at the feet of corporations. That is probably undeniable. However, it is important to understand root causes here. The truth is hard to stomach for anyone who pro-big-government. The single gating element or decision that opened the doors to what would become the financial meltdown of the century was the US government's decision that everyone should be able to buy a house. Facts and qualifications be damned. Congress wanted everyone to buy a home. So, they loosened all the controls and actually pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to facilitate lending. It was: Go! Go! Go!
That, and that alone, enabled what followed. Without this gate being opened it would have been imposiible. --as in absolutley fucking no-way impossible-- for masses of bullshit mortgages to be issued and CDO's to follow.
Blame executives all you want for playing within the framework given to them by legislators but, please, be sure to take to task the true monsters who got us here.
BTW, this is not partisan. Both sides of the isle have blood on their hands on this one.
Suggested reading:
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0...
EDIT: My guess as to why nobody has been prosecuted is that a lot of politicians would be exposed through these actions. And, of course, they want to be as far removed from that kind of exposure as possible. The truth is not what they are after. They want votes. None of this would gain them votes and, in fact, might land some of them on the street or in jail.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin - Erik Larson Highly entertaining non-fiction that reads like fiction. Accounts of the build-up to hitler's Germany like you're actually there. http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/...
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0...
In Michael Lewis' book The Big Short, this is exactly what several folks did when they figured out how to use credit default swaps to short CDO bonds.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0...
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/students/dunlop/2009-CDOme...
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0...
