Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America Highlight

This technique allowed Andy’s bank to take all the unsalable BBB-rated extras from these giant mortgage deals, jiggle them around a little using some mathematical formulae, and—presto! All of a sudden 70 percent of your unsalable BBB-rated pseudo-crap (“which in reality is more like B-minus-rated stuff, since the FICO scores aren’t accurate,” reminds Andy) is now very salable AAA-rated prime paper, suitable for selling to would-be risk-avoidant pension funds and insurance companies. It’s the same homeowners and the same loans, but the wrapping on the box is different. “You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried, in your most diabolical imagination,”