A recent issue of the Columbia Journalism Review includes a remarkable piece of journalism by Dean Starkman, a veteran business news reporter. Starkman collected and read more than 700 articles published between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2007 about mortgage lending and Wall Street to answer this question: Did the business press miss the biggest business news story of the past 80 years—the current economic meltdown. His conclusion: With a few notable exceptions, yes they did. “The idea that the press did all it could, and the public just missed it, is not just untenable,” says Starkman. It is also untrue.” And that’s not the worst of it.

Trails leading to the story were seemingly everywhere, if enterprising reporters chose to follow them. And those trails were also there for the public officials we depend on to stand guard against illegal big money manipulation, and the “masters of the universe” on Wall Street who now ask “how could we have known?”

The way anyone paying attention could have known would simply to have dialed back to the year 2000 and a few years after that.

“What is important to remember about this period,” says Starkman, “ is that predatory lending was high on the public’s agenda, mostly in response to marauding behavior of old subprime lenders…joined by a new generation of subprimates.”

Between 1999 and 2004, Starkman points out, more than half the states passed anti-predatory lending laws. Attorneys General in all 50 states fought the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency and the banking industry for the right to examine the books of Wachovia’s mortgage unit—-a fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which decided in Wachovia’s favor, about a year before Wachovia cratered.

 Predatory mortgage lending wasn’t some subsurface river of Hades no one could have suspected. There were outcroppings everywhere. Citigroup was forced into a $240 million marketing deception settlement with the Federal Trade Commission covering two million customers.

Household paid $484 million. In 2000 the New York Times and ABC News collaborated on a story that linked “rapacious subprime lender First Alliance Corp. with Lehman Brothers and other Wall Street firms engaging in precisely the kind of practices that brought down the financial system.”

That was before Wall Street decided to go all-in in the mortgage securities game. And what an ugly game it became.

Here’s how Stackman describes it: “Business Week’s excellent Mara Der Hovanesian reports, for instance, that Wall Street demand for mortgages became so frenzied that female wholesale buyers were ‘expected’ to trade sex for them with male retail brokers….’The abuses went far beyond sexual dalliances. Court documents and interviews with scores of industry players suggest that wholesalers also offered bribes to fellow employees, fabricated documents and coached brokers on how to break the rules. And they weren’t alone. Brokers, who work directly with borrowers, altered and shredded documents. Underwriters, the bank employees who actually approve mortgage loans, also skirted boundaries, demanding secret payments from wholesalers to green-light loans they knew to be fraudulent.”

We’re talking heavy duty criminality here. All of this went on for years. Regulators didn’t know? Congress didn’t know? Top officials at banks, brokerage houses, hedge funds and other capital sources didn’t know? CNBC didn’t know? The best and brightest business reporters and editors didn’t know?

No one could see a multi-trillion dollar shell game in which Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and others were leveraging assets 30 and 40 to one on paper of highly questionable value? Some defend the banks and other big players by arguing that with AIG insuring their deals they assumed there would be little or no risk. How could they have known AIG wouldn’t have reserves to pay the piper when the deals fell apart? Why would they ever suspect AIG was playing fast and loose with other people’s money?

Well, they might have paid attention to the $1.6 billion deceptive practices fine AIG paid in 2005 after then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer got after them. Starkman’s work focuses on the business press. But the culpability goes well beyond those who write about business. That’s why it’s so important to have a bi-partisan investigation, with full subpoena powers, getting itself elbow deep into the books, records and performance of all those who had a role in bringing about the collapse of the world’s financial system. Until the White House and Congress have a clear understanding of what happened, any effort to build in protections for the future will just be stabs in the dark.

Both the House and Senate have signed off on creation of the Senate select committee proposed by Senators Byron Dorgan and John McCain. For a world financial system still reeling from the loss of trillions in wealth, that work can’t begin any too soon.

 “The B737 had been in service in AirAsia for the past six years and its retirement marks the dawn of a new millennium for AirAsia as we now fully operate on an all Airbus 320 fleet for our Malaysian operations. We have witnessed the metamorphosis of AirAsia from a caterpillar to a butterfly. AirAsia has grown from a fleet of two Boeing 737s to the first 5-Star low cost carrier that has made a mark for itself in the region. AirAsia is now proud to have the youngest, all brand new fleet in Asia”

“Besides our brand new fleet and superior leather seats, AirAsia’s great cabin crew and ground staff, vast array of food selections, largest number of destinations, highest flight frequencies, unmatched On Time Guarantee plus the 5 Star smile allows us to challenge the very best of premium airlines,” said AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes.

 In December 2007, AirAsia became the largest airline customer in the world of the Airbus A320, after placing an order for a total of 225 aircraft. Since then, the airline has gradually phased out its original fleet of Boeing 737s to make way for the new, more fuel efficient, Airbus A320.

Reputed for its high reliability and low operating costs, the Airbus A320 has already enhanced AirAsia’s efficiency levels and has been crucial in improving the airline’s on time performance. AirAsia’s last remaining Boeing 737 made its final flight before it is retired from the fleet, from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, arriving at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal today at 9.55 am. Passengers were greeted by Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes for the aircraft’s decommissioning ceremony.

Speaking at the farewell ceremony, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes said, “We would never forget Boeing’s contribution to us since the very beginning. AirAsia as the airline that you know today started off with two Boeing 737s which had rendered us a wonderful service, without which we would not have got to where we are today.” “This is a significant day for AirAsia as it reinforces our position as leaders in the Asia-Pacific aviation industry. Replacing the Boeing 737 for the more fuel efficient Airbus A320 is an important step for AirAsia’s ongoing efforts to minimise its carbon footprint. In addition, the savings we make on fuel consumption are passed on as low fares to our customers, testament to AirAsia’s commitment to making air travel accessible and affordable to all,” he added.

With proven reliability and extended servicing periods, the A320 family offers the lowest operating costs of any single aisle aircraft. In addition, the latest new cabin design saves on weight and offers passengers a quieter and roomier experience as well as significantly larger overhead storage lockers. AirAsia has a firm commitment with a purchase order for 225 Airbus A320 aircraft (175 firm + 50 options), thus securing the carrier’s growth pipeline up till 2004. AirAsia currently operates a total of 50 Airbus A320 aircraft – 42 in Malaysia, 7 in Thailand and 1 in Indonesia. Its existing 8 B737s in Thailand and another 10 in Indonesia are also being replaced gradually with A320s.

With rising wage pressures in China, Danish firms are ‘forced’ to move some of their production to cheaper areas like Vietnam, even as they continue working with and in the Chinese market.

Selling Vietnamese products direct to Chinese consumers means Vietnam more than ever is now becoming the best option for cost- effective production.
    “Vietnamese sub-suppliers are much sought after at the moment. Its the first country Danish companies ask for when they come us,” trade adviser at Denmark’s Eksportråd Erik Ovesen says, pointing to low-cost production, approachable authorities and a Vietnamese learning capacity as reasons why Vietnam has become the new production leader.
    He has this year alone been contacted by ten smaller Danish companies, which will establish production in Vietnam, and thereby join nearly 100 other Danish companies that are already in the country.
    Apart from major Danish companies like Carlsberg and Maersk its predominantly smaller companies which are trying their luck in Vietnam. That’s because, Erik Ovesen tells ErhvervsBladet.dk, that the establishment can be done relatively pain-free – it’s not subject to demands for high initial capital to establish them in Vietnam.
    “The Danish company can establish a subsidiary in Vietnam with a single owner. The Vietnamese authorities only require that they can see where it originates, and who runs it. It’s easy and free of red tape and can be done within two months”, explains Erik Ovesen, who believes that although companies in the future might prefer to produce in the low-cost Vietnam, many will still stay in China to establish sales company.
    “A large domestic market and Chinese purchasing power makes it attractive to stay,” he told ErhvervsBladet.dk.
    One of the companies already in Vietnam is The Rynkeby company, Orana, which produces fruit-based semi-finished products and among other things, soft drinks and dairy products sold worldwide. They have produced in Vietnam since 2003.
    “One of the reasons we began in Vietnam was to beat high custom tariffs. That, the Vietnamese low wages, and that the Vietnamese are hard-working, were other reasons. Finally we got shorter shipping time to our customers in Asia. For us it was a success criterion to have a good local partner who knows the Vietnamese system and bureaucracy and can overcome language and cultural barriers”, says Betina Mold Rasmussen, who is responsible for Oranas project coordination.
    “Finally, the support from DANIDA was decisive. It meant that we could transfer technology from Denmark to Vietnam and train local staff. Investment Fund for Developing countries (IFU), who are fellow shareholder, has further helped us to improve the quality of the board”, says Betina Mold Rasmussen and stresses that help from DANIDA and IFU has been indispensable.
    Erik Ovesen of Danmarks Eksportråd agreed that the appropriate advice is critical.
    “You have to ally itself with the Danish embassy or other consultants. On the whole, we must make every process thoroughly. You have to get acquainted with the Vietnamese culture and history, and investigate all circumstances. We simply owe that to the people,” said Erik Ovesen.
    He estimates that Vietnam, which just 15 years ago was on the list of the world’s ten poorest countries, is geared towards recovery by increasing production. He has some reservations though:
    “When growth goes as fast as it does right now, there will be bottlenecks. The pressure can lead to bureaucracy in the application process, a slow start when it comes to time in production, and difficulties finding employees. But for those companies that are preparing thoroughly and invest in preparing an incursion into Vietnam, there are good business opportunities.

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