Frontline's "Breaking the Bank": A scary story about Bank of America, Hank Paulson, and the Merrill Lynch mob

Nice job last night by Frontline on the details of Ken Lewis's Bank of America and its government-enforced takeover of Merrill Lynch. "Breaking the Bank" is too soft on Lewis and makes too big a deal of its supposed coup in getting Lewis and Merrill's John Thain to talk, but still a good freeze frame on Wall Street's meltdown. (More on the specifics of the Frontline piece later.)

It's good that Simon Johnson gets more face time. The former IMF chief economist who types away (with James Kwak) at Baseline Scenario always serves up strong words (in a calm voice) about America's oligarchs — and provides good insights about erstwhile or wannabe oligarchs like Lewis and Merrill's John Thain.

Johnson starred in a memorable episode of the Bill Moyers Journal last February that even trumped Frontline's previous "Inside the Meltdown" piece the week before. (The Moyers episode is still better than the new Frontline piece.)

Nevertheless, give Frontline credit for a focused look at one part of the meltdown: the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America saga. And Johnson does a star turn for Frontline's new piece.

For a broader view of the meltdown, return to James Lieber's "What Cooked the World's Economy?" in the January 28 Voice.

And for more analysis of Johnson's analyses, go here and here.