Crisis Investigators Appointed

Brooksley Born, who warned about the impending crisis while head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, is among the sleuths.

Congress has established a 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to help investigate the causes of the U.S. and global financial crisis. But don’t hold your breath waiting for the answer. The commission’s report isn’t due until December 15, 2010.

Former California state treasurer Phil Angelides was appointed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) to chair the inquiry. Brooksley Born, who warned about the impending crisis while serving as head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, was also named to the commission.

The other four commission members named by Pelosi and Reid are: former Senator Bob Graham of Florida, Heather Murren, a retired managing director at Merrill Lynch, Byron Georgiou, a Las Vegas-based businessman and attorney, and John Thompson, chairman of Symantec Corp.

Republicans appointed four members: Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, who will serve as vice chairman of the commission, Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute, ex-Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin and former National Economic Council Director Keith Hennessey.

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