Buffett and the Ratings Cartel : How the Moody's investor can reduce the odds of another credit meltdown

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Warren Buffett testifies today before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, and the big question is where he'll come down on the future role of the credit-rating cartel. Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns a large stake in Moody's, one of the Big Three agencies whose ratings did so much to abet the financial panic, but America's most famous investor won't do his reputation any good if he endorses an oligopoly that has done so much economic harm.

It's hard to believe after Enron and the housing bubble, but Securities and Exchange Commission rules still require money-market funds and stock brokerages to hold securities rated highly by Moody's, Standard & Poor's, Fitch and other "Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations." The SEC decides which firms to anoint as members of this NRSRO cartel, and that policy has been replicated at the Federal Reserve and in state pension laws and regulations that also demand ratings from a cartel member.

An article worth your time.