Page 94 - TruthAboutLyingCoverFlipAmazon20

The Truth About Lying
He switched to another channel. Live footage from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange looked like a controlled collapse. Traders weren’t just staring at blank screens. They were doubled over at their stations, clutching their stomachs as Level 2 cramping rolled through them in waves. Some were shivering. Others stood drenched in sweat, their tailored shirts stuck to their backs.
Every time a floor manager tried to relay a “strategic ambiguity” to the Fed—the kind of optimistic valuation or creative risk assessment that had kept markets afloat for decades—the V-7 patch answered. Faces tightened. Tongues flicked instinctively at the metallic taste of a Level 1 warning. Eyes glazed with dizziness. The ambiguity the economist had called the lifeblood of the system was being purged from the room one cramp at a time.
Then the feed switched to a press conference. David Lynch, CEO of one of the largest investment banks in the country, sat at a table covered with papers. His tie was loosened. His eyes were red.
“We structured our disclosures to technically comply with regulations while obscuring the actual risks. We did it because everyone else was doing it, and if we didn’t, we’d lose market share. We knew. And now your system has made it impossible to pretend otherwise.”
He picked up a stack of documents and let them fall. Papers scattered across the desk.
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