Playing Russian Roulette With Someone Else's Head
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Last week, Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards issued a report that lists a number of recommendations for an overhaul of the c
[See the full post at: Playing Russian Roulette With Someone Else's Head]This is your best one yet (and there are so many fine analyses here). This gives a sense of the real people stumbling around the banking world.
Truly Finance Capitalism has taken over our political systems in all parts of the world. It’s like watching a slow train crash.
Alternate banking systems, like the state one in N. Dakota could be a cushion when it all crashes down. This makes local trade systems all the more necessary for communities. We need to know our neighbors better. Access to our more distant friends may not help in a practical way.
The slow train crash – I wonder if it will take years as they juggle the hot potato or if it might drop in a week.
Thank you very much for a really informative piece. I had never heard of Joris Luyendijk, for example. He is another Dutchman. I wonder if that is significant! 🙂
I also note that the EU seems to have passed a deal to make bank “bail-ins” the norm. I guess Cyprus was a template after all.
Banks on the verge of collapse will be forced to tap their shareholders, bondholders and biggest customers for cash before falling back on taxpayer bailouts under an agreement hammered out by European Union members.
This is a great “expanded summary” of what the situation is all about. As for, quote: “A financial world that cannot function without a constant influx of public funds is obviously dysfunctional. So start by putting a halt to the bank bail-outs.”, I think they already took care of that by “bail-in” clauses and rules. In the end, it is still the “taxpayer as customer & consumer” that bears the brunt. All it does is spare the very vulnerable members of society – the poor, the sick and the unemployed; everyone else must pay up for the banksters playing casino.
Cartel forming is of course the ultimate reason to break up the banking sector (it’s as illegal as it gets).
A Cartel will ultimately collapse on it’s own accord, without government protection.
Sans an Honest Money Regime (The real crux);
Offer a publicly backed government safety net*, and you will get sloppy performers. Had these banks been allowed to simply fail, from the Savings and Loan Crisis and LTCM to present this would all have never happened. Depositors would have voted with their feet, out of the Shyster operations and into the Prudent.
It’s become so accepted now, socializing losses, that the Prudent are now forced by the “regulators” to merge with the Imprudent, diluting the ethic of the formers responsible activities, as well as their investors and depositors wealth and trust. Not to mention sending the message that responsible behavior is/will be, punished.
Moral Hazard, indeed.
But, alas, Politicians love banks, because that’s where their campaign contributions clear. Just that the Brits use 20 pages of “English” to justify that.
* It is very rare that a crew member is washed overboard on a sailboat with no lifelines.
Glennda,
I don’t call it “Finance Capitalism.” I prefer to label it “Corporatism.” That’s Fascism with a happy face.
Real Capitalism generally doesn’t squander precious capital in non-productive endeavors, corruption and boondoggles.
In fact, I would posit the biggest waster/miss-allocator of capital today is in fact, the financial sector, with it’s .gov enabler running a close second.
But, what’s in nomenclature after the horse is gone?
On a timeline, what we had is gone now. If this is allowed to cleanse naturally, the renaissance will be sooner. If the State decides to “Fix It,” I’d give the process 60 years or so, about what it took with the Soviet Union.
Be sure and understand the video I posted below. Those who don’t are at risk.
Hi Folks,
For those interested in giving feedback on how the site ‘looks and feels’ please go to this thread:
TAE 3.0: What do you want to see?
Thanks,
L,
Sid.@Professor,
Just curious how you see a cartel collapse on its own?
I was actually having a discussion with an ex-Bell employee about the cartel which is the Canadian telecom industry. It occurred to me that Canadian competition laws are actually anti-competitive in that they stop the natural progression of things (i.e. a bunch of small competitive firms will compete and the few strongest will survive, at which point a cartel can form until a monopolist can emerge and eventually collapse, blown into a bunch of little firms that take its place as the cycle starts all over again) by trying to prevent the cartels from getting any stronger and pushing new players (Wind, Public, Mobilicity) into the mix.
I suggested this just keeps Canadian telecom in a state of limbo where little ever changes and most innovation is stifled to ensure cartel profits are maximized. Were the Canadian government to get out of the way and allow for a monopoly to form, things might get worse but at the same time the market might eventually turn its back on said monopoly and look to innovative new solutions to communication, killing off the monopolistic firm at the same time.
Perhaps I’m wrong, but that “cycle” which applies to firms in any given marketplace seems rather self-evident. It would also seem it applies to more than just firms, but any social orders/organizations and even living organisms themselves.
One wonders if TAE, as a social order, will be one of those small-yet-competitive players once the bigger cartel/monopoly (i.e. world government) blows itself apart?
Cheers,
VariableHi Folks,
On the comment on GMO being supported by the ‘Environment’ Minister, one should realise the scale of the propaganda. A recent study reported in the Guardian done at Caen University in France has caused controversy, not least the vitriolic backlash from supposedly impartial regulators. Even ‘scientifically neutral’ rag ““Nature” calls the study “Hyped”. Here’s the
Reuters news feed:EU panel says Caen study of Monsanto GM corn inadequate
By Charlie Dunmore
BRUSSELS | Thu Oct 4, 2012 5:42pm BST
(Reuters) – A French study linking a type of genetically modified corn to health risks in rats was of insufficient scientific quality to draw any conclusions on the safety of such crops, an initial review by the EU’s food safety watchdog has found.
Last month, researchers at the University of Caen said rats fed on Monsanto’s NK603 GM corn or exposed to its top-selling Roundup glyphosate weed killer were at higher risk of suffering tumors, multiple organ damage and premature death.
The study led Russia to temporarily ban imports of NK603, which can be found in internationally traded animal feed, and is designed to be grown in conjunction with use of glyphosate to control weeds.
France’s government said it would also ban imports if the findings are confirmed, but other experts have questioned the study’s methods and Monsanto said it felt confident its products had been proven safe.
“Considering that the study… has unclear study objectives and given its inadequate design, analysis and reporting, EFSA finds that it is of insufficient scientific quality for safety assessments,” the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in a statement on Thursday.
…
WATCHDOG CRITICISEDThe safety watchdog said it would ask the authors to provide full details of the study’s design and procedures, ahead of a final review due by the end of the month.
But the study’s lead author, Gilles-Eric Seralini, said he would only make further information publicly available if EFSA published all the data from its 2003 safety assessment of NK603, which concluded that it was as safe as non-GM corn.
“To play fair they can’t keep their data secret. The authorization of these products is based in our view on data and a methodology that are even more faulty,” he said.
Campaign group Friends of the Earth accused EFSA of putting the interests of biotech firms ahead of public safety concerns.
“For the past decade, EFSA has consistently sided with the biotech industry and disregarded health or environment concerns about genetically modified crops. Instead of picking holes in peer-reviewed research, they should take public concerns seriously,” said food campaigner Mute Schimpf.
Of course nobody asks the simple question, why not do more precise and careful studies? That would be the true scientific approach. But of course we live in a time of spin, pseudo science and technocracy. Which is why the right honourable (?) minister for the Environment knows what he is talking about, obviously. If he says they’re safer than conventional crops then by ‘golly they are! And how dare anyone question otherwise! :dry:
Russian roulette with the heads of others indeed… and hearts, minds, health in fact with the whole of the future of humanity. The banking ‘industry’ is just one part of the whole system, and the rot is systemic throughout. As I’ve commented before, if your value system is corrupted, or worse still is non-existent, then how can you know, ever, what you are doing? Whether it is right or wrong? Most people today are mad; they have the wrong set of values and insanely cling to them – status, power, control and wealth. These are not true values, these are objects of desire and greed. True values are about caring; they are about Love, Compassion, Beauty and Truth. And you cannot charge for them because they are free.
L,
Sid.Anglo Irish Bank scandal ‘damages democracy’, Angela Merkel says
German chancellor delivers a strong condemnation of the revelations that the Irish bank’s executives mocked the country’s role in Anglo’s bailout
https://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/28/angela-merkel-anglo-irish-bank-scandal
Anglo Irish Bank tapes: executives mock Germans amid bailout
https://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/25/anglo-irish-bank-tapes-bailout
Another news article on the same topic:
Ilargi, your Headline alone was enough to draw me back from the shadows. What a perfect metaphor. Makes me envious.
To the point, though . Bank of England has a new boss , Mark J. Carney, Canadian, whose track record & personal Manifesto bespeak an intention to print money ’til the press melts down . He sounds like a complete maniac. Although it might mostly be bright lies to instill hope that fresh money is on its way, somehow I think he means to actually do it. A sort of “What the hell, we have nothing to lose! ” suicide plunge into a neutron star.
To the second point , street protests in more countries than are practical to list seem to be accelerating the exit of “hot money” private capital from the previously so-called “emerging markets” , with predictable consequences . As you pointed out , a lot of that money did not reappear anywhere else , but seems to have vanished.
The twin phenomena ( protests causing capital to exit + the retracted money not showing up elsewhere ) really caught my attention .
Could this be how the Black Swan finally comes home to roost ? A tiny city park demolition in Istanbul and a proposed 20 cent bus fare hike in Sao Paulo and Ka-Boom ! Social unrest in the streets rapidly escalate into financial disaster for their entire countries. Wow. That was fast .
What if that same flash-bash takes out the remaining emergents? Turkey & Brazil are fairly sizable. Anyone out there know who is endangered by their troubles? In other words , the next dominoes in line ?
https://gmojeopardy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/gmo-non-gmo-corn-comparison.jpg
This basic comparison of nutrient content in roundup ready corn vs regular corn cannot be methodologically flawed as much. Roundup destroys nutrient content completely wherever its used.
In addition to being devoid of nutrients, the plant samples grown on soil saturated with roundup for a decade show an extraordinary level of deadly formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, maybe a byproduct of metabolising the glyphosate?
Glyphosate, the active ingredient of roundup, is a highly carcinogenic chemical chelator, disrupting metabolic pathways in exposed organisms by binding and draining vital nutrients, destroying weeds and soil microbes most effectively. Roundup-ready corn is genetically unstable and mutagenic even without exposure to roundup herbicide, but only becomes nutritionally depleted [and maximally carcinogenic] when exposed to roundup itself or grown on roundup-ravaged soil.
https://research.sustainablefoodtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Final-Paper.pdf
https://www.businessinsider.com/monsantos-roundup-and-resistant-corn-found-to-be-toxic-2012-9
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19654825
The paper involving mice fed with roundup corn and developing tumors seems solid enough. The propensity to develop mammary tumors may be inherently elevated in the mice variety used, and the sample small, as critics suggest, but the results are too significant to ignore; the control group remains relatively free of abnormalities while the roundup group mostly suffers massive tumors, metabolic damage and terminal organ failure within 120 days. The researchers also note kidney damage occuring with roundup-polluted water at below legal toxicity limits. Besides the tumors, the mice variety used is not known to develop kidney damage from drinking water.
Crops exposed to roundup are insiduous chronic poisons with vastly reduced nutritional value and overall reduced yields. All use of roundup herbicide and roundup-ready crops should be banned.
Additional research is desirable but ultimately unnecessary to determine the acute and chronic hazard of gmo crops in general; its safe to assume that all gmo foodcrops produced thusfar are inherently mutagenic and metabolically disruptive due to unstable transgenetic expressions yielding rogue genes.
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