The NYT reports on how Depfa, an fast-growing Irish bank, managed to get a school board for a small community in Wisconsin to speculate in complex derivative instruments. The deal is likely to lead to large losses for the school district, even though they had been assured that it was a very safe investment. It generated large fees for Depfa. Local Governments across the country were persuaded to take part in similar deals. [Thanks to Walter Miale for calling this one to my attention.]
--Dean Baker
