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Images Of Titanic And Assorted Rodents: Chief SEC Economist James Overdahl Leaves For Private Sector

Tyler Durden's picture




The SEC's Chief Economist and PPT liaison, who previously held the same position at the Gary Gensler (former Goldmanite) run CFTC, has decided to leave the much maligned and impoverished syndicate for greener pastures. His next stop: NERA Economic Consulting.

Bloomberg has additional info on his departure which was provoked by Schapiro's most recent short selling lunacy, and the Republican purges at the SEC.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission’s top economist is leaving the agency after Chairman
Mary Schapiro merged his office with another and passed short-
selling rules that hedge funds said ignored financial analysis.

Republican commissioners cited economic analysis last month
as they protested the SEC’s new restrictions on short-selling,
saying the agency lacked data to show bearish stock bets
contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Kynikos Associates
Ltd. President James Chanos, in a news release after the vote,
said the SEC disregarded evidence that short-selling boosts
liquidity and leads to more accurate stock valuations.

“Because there were fears that short-sellers were causing
problems, the SEC responded,” said Lawrence Harris, a former
chief economist for the agency who’s now a finance professor at
the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “We don’t
want to do things in the heat of the moment that we later
regret. Analysis helps ensure that the government doesn’t make
capricious decisions.”

Overdahl was named chief economist three years ago by
Christopher Cox, Schapiro’s Republican predecessor. He stopped
reporting directly to Schapiro in September after she merged
economic analysis with the office charged with spotting emerging
risks to financial markets. Schapiro appointed University of
Texas law professor Henry Hu to oversee the combined unit.

Overdahl said he will work in NERA’s Washington office as a
vice president in the securities and finance group. He declined
to comment on whether the short-sale rules or the reorganization
affected his decision, and said today in an interview that he
began his job search before last month’s vote.

From the SEC:

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Chief Economist James A. Overdahl will leave the agency to rejoin the private sector after serving since July 2007 as principal economic advisor to the Commission on policy, rulemaking, and litigation support.

As Director of the Commis'sion's Office of Economic Analysis, Mr. Overdahl supervised the agencys economics program, advising policymakers on a wide variety of topics affecting securities markets including the role of securities lending and short selling, market structure issues, money market mutual funds, credit rating agencies, and litigation matters.  The Office of Economic Analysis is part of the SECs new Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation.

"Given the importance of rigorous economic analysis to the Commission, we truly appreciate Jim's dedication and his many contributions during a time of extraordinary challenges in our financial markets," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

"Both as a member of the staff in the early 1990's and then later as Chief Economist, Jim brought to the Commission real expertise in a number of economic areas, including market structure, enforcement issues, and derivative securities," said Henry Hu, Director of the Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation. "Jim's a fine, thoughtful economist who provided leadership related to the economic analysis so material to the Commission's activities."

Mr. Overdahl said, "It has been my honor to serve as the Commissions Chief Economist during a period that posed extraordinary challenges to our financial markets - when rigorous economic analysis was absolutely crucial to the Commission's work.  I will miss working day-to-day with my talented colleagues, who always rose to the occasion and gave their best when things were at their worst.  I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of the SEC's economists during extremely difficult economic times."

During his time at the SEC, Overdahl's team of economists completed a major study of the impact of provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding internal control over financial reporting requirements.  Overdahl also testified before Congress on behalf of the Commission on over-the-counter derivatives, and worked closely with the financial agencies in the President's Working Group on Financial Markets on policy issues related to the recent market crisis.

Mr. Overdahl will leave the SEC at the end of March to join National Economic Research Associates (NERA), an economic consulting firm, as a Vice President in their Washington, D.C., office.

Before joining the SEC staff, Overdahl served as Chief Economist of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2002 to 2007.




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Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:02 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

He was the first one done burning his files...he must've used an extra dose of lighter fluid.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:04 | Link to Comment Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Was the smoke black or white? If it's good enough for the pope..........

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:29 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

Color unknown...as soon as it was produced, it was blown up the taxpayers' collective ass.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:32 | Link to Comment Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

I thought I smelled something burning. I'd assumed it was that late night snack.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:12 | Link to Comment Internet Tough Guy
Internet Tough Guy's picture

Stay, go, the SEC doesn't care. They are busy looking for short sellers and tranny porn.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:17 | Link to Comment ReallySparky
ReallySparky's picture

You might want to add that they are also no longer allowed to check Drudge.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:26 | Link to Comment Assetman
Assetman's picture

Drudge = Figurative Tranny Porn

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:29 | Link to Comment Hansel
Hansel's picture

But they found their first bubble!

http://www.roubini.com/financemarkets-monitor/258514/the_gold_bubble

by Rick Bookstaber, Senior Policy Adviser in the Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation at the SEC

"I am not going to spend time here talking about how the price of gold is off-the-wall, that it is not just a bubble in the making, but a bubble waiting to burst. I don’t want to waste your time on that point.  We all know it is a bubble."

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:39 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

lol...oh yeah, that dude is really on the ball.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:14 | Link to Comment bugs_
bugs_'s picture

I think this does portend something for Mary.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:17 | Link to Comment ReallySparky
ReallySparky's picture

"Assorted Rodents".  Cracks me up. And oh yeah other post, CDS Harlots.  I imagine someone will take that avatar soon.  Thanks for injecting levity into this crazy mess. 

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 19:28 | Link to Comment Rainman
Rainman's picture

Rats are competent swimmers if forced to do so. They dislike deep water.

They'll only go when the water level reaches them down in their hideouts and they're forced to paddle out.

I've known many rats and have studied their ways.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:24 | Link to Comment trav7777
trav7777's picture

Given the massive salaries that public sector employees now enjoy, how much more must they have been paying this scumbag to now assist in bribery and whatnot?

Wed, 03/10/2010 - 05:42 | Link to Comment Catullus
Catullus's picture

The speaking circuit is much more lucrative. You'd probably pay $25k a speech for this guy. Then sit on a few boards. The only thing you'll miss is the health care and the undeserved sense of accomplishment that you're somehow "guiding" the markets.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:37 | Link to Comment Assetman
Assetman's picture

"Given the importance of rigorous economic analysis to the Commission, we truly appreciate Jim's dedication and his many contributions during a time of extraordinary challenges in our financial markets," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.

Barf.

Mr. Overdahl said, "It has been my honor to serve as the Commissions Chief Economist during a period that posed extraordinary challenges to our financial markets - when rigorous economic analysis was absolutely crucial to the Commission's work.  I will miss working day-to-day with my talented colleagues, who always rose to the occasion and gave their best when things were at their worst.  I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of the SEC's economists during extremely difficult economic times."

Double Barf.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:54 | Link to Comment MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

Poor Assetman. Must be the contagion they have been talking about. No doubt "Jim" will serve as a retro-virus, installed in his new receptor site, reproducing the culture of the SEC where ever he goes.

It is the 11th hour. The Petri dish just gets cloudier and cloudier.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:42 | Link to Comment BlackBeard
BlackBeard's picture

Bet you 5 bucks this fool loses his new private sugar momma some clients. Ineptitude is still ineptitude, doesn't matter how you dress it up.

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 18:25 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 17:56 | Link to Comment Madcow
Madcow's picture

Here's the obvious problem too many are missing -

Without credit expansion, the money supply vaporizes, and all the rents collapse. Sure, they can buy a few years for the sovereigns by foisting a draconian police state upon the citizens and stealing money from "the future" - but they can't save the economy without massive debt and tax relief. And that’s obviously not going to happen.

What is happening now is obviously DELIBERATE. There are way too many coincident developments to dismiss as random and unplanned actions. Nancy Pelosi claims that all of this “snuck up” on people “as if upon little cat fee.”  There is nothing quite so un-subtle as a massive criminal organization mobilizing to cover its tracks and destroy evidnce.

While global governments and central bankers can forestall the collapse of sovereign debt, they can't stop a daisy chain of system failures in the private economy. No money, no supply chains.  I suppose they could nationalize every agency.  I'd like to be the "dog food Czar" some day ...  But that will only slow down the collapse. 

Once people turn to looting and cannibalism, the politicians and bankers will have completed their agenda. My guess is that they’re preparing to flee the US and Europe for Dubai, where they can watch their betrayed nations go up in flames from bankrupt beachside palaces. 

Watch Goldman set up some kind of on-line para-mutual gambling casino - to allow gamblers to wager on who gets eaten next. There are police cameras installed throughout the major cities that would allow punters to keep an eye on their marks.  They could even securitize the earnings, and launch a host of derivatives to accommodate side bets.  An OTC derivative might pay 2x if a cannibal is himself eaten within 24 hours of devouring another human …  Moodys and S&P will have their own beach-side tower from which they can marshal health insurance information and actuarial tables to set the line ...

Western governments have been taken over by a financial industry crime syndicate. They've stolen the future and ruined the economy. They’ve got financial markets hopelessly confused, and have tricked investors into participating in a giant IOU circle-jerk.  Eventually, people will realize that no one has any real money, and that it was all a cruel hoax.

Once people wake up to the truth, they'll want to get their hands around the necks of the folks who sold them worthless and fraudulent paper. They'll storm their broker’s office. They’ll march into the office of the Treasury Secretary. They’ll track down Ben Bernanke personally to make them explain.  When they get there, all that will remain is a sign reading "sorry folks, you got tricked fair and square. We're in Dubai now, so go f* yourself."  

And, just as their blood begins to boil, they will turn around to face a marauding horde of hungry cannibals. 

Wait ... how about an OTC derivative that pays 3x if someone is eaten immediately after attempting to visit their Citigroup bankers' office?  5x if they're eaten on premises.  100X if someone is eaten and digested in the Oval Office.

Debt is Money.   

Debt was Money. 

Tue, 03/09/2010 - 22:36 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Wed, 03/10/2010 - 01:28 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 22:21 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 22:36 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 10:13 | Link to Comment mark456
mark456's picture

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