Risk Rock Star of the Year: Chris Whalen

All hail Chris Whalen, Lord of the Risk Managers.

Whalen gets my vote for Risk Rock Star of the Year. Whalen is one of the few people out there -- heck, he may be the only one, including the DC yahoos -- who fully understands the financial crisis at hand, who can grasp the implications of all the government's we're-just-winging-it bailout actions, who knows banking enough to know how it has to change for the long term.

I heard Whalen speak tonight before the Risk Management Association of New York and he was masterful. He has a dark prognosis for the future of banking, but he's masterful. In other words, he's a rock star.