FT editor: Yeah, we blew it

Jeff Bercovici of Conde Nast Portfolio notes that Financial Times editor Lionel Barber is giving a speech this afternoon at Yale University on the financial press and the economic meltdown. His conclusion: We kinda blew it.

Bercovici writes, “Specifically, he says, they blew it in five ways: by failing to see the dangers in unregulated derivatives; by missing the risks in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s government-backed structure; by not raising alarms about the over-leveraging of banks; by not appreciating the relationship between the banking system and the economy; and by focusing too much on the here-and-now rather than the what’s-to-come.

“‘[It’s] fair to say there was an alarming suspension of critical faculties among financial and business journalists during the credit bubble,’ Barber concludes.

“This is a good place to remind you that I’ll be moderating a panel tomorrow night on this topic, with The Wall Street Journal‘s Alan Murray, Fox Business Network’s Liz Claman and personal finance author Farnoosh Torabi. (CNBC’s Charles Gasparino will hopefully also be participating.)”

Read more here. And here is an abridged version of his speech on the FT site.