Not So Toxic at Credit Suisse

A bonus pool of "toxic assets" including commercial mortgaage backed securities returned 72% in 2009 for bankers at Credit Suisse, the Wall Street Journal reports. If those assets weren't so toxic in the end after all, what does it say about all the other supposedly "toxic" assets, the toxicity of which was used as a justification for government actions to seize parts of publicly traded companies in America? The Journal doesn't get into that question, but it's one that needs to be answered before buying in to the idea that Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Timothy Geithner are all heroes. One can credit them for the recovery of the "toxic" assets. But it's possible, too, that had government officials not made the statements and taken the actions they did, the value of the "toxic" assets may not have plunged so far in the first place.