"In Vegas it became clear to me that this huge industry was just trusting in the ratings," Eisman said. "Everyone believed in the ratings, so they didn't have to think about it." (6.46)
As much as we can blame Wall Street for taking advantage of consumers, the ratings agencies deserve an equal amount of blame. They could have stopped the subprime market at any time by taking a closer look at the mortgages in question and accurately rating them, but they were too blinded by potential profits to do the right thing.
