Some random observations Actually, two random observations.
First, I know it’s the 4th of July weekend, and there’s plenty else to do. But make a note to read this article in today’s Times, detailing yet another way in which bankers have put their banks, and our economy, at risk for short term gain.
Banks get huge inflows of deposits from brokers like Merrill Lynch, to whom they promise higher rates of return than they offer to us mere mortals. In order to pay those high rates they make risky loans. The bankers make piles of money for a while, then the house of cards collapses, and because the deposits are FDIC insured, we end up with the leavings. The present economy has more than exposed the problem, to which the government has responded with proposed half measures, which the banks fiercely oppose for reasons that make no sense. The final chapter has not yet been written, but I venture to suggest that the bankers will win, and live on to ruin the economy once again in the not so distant future.
Second, speaking of economic scams, I’d just like to point out that Joe Nocera of the Times agrees with my take on the Madoff victims who are bleating because they aren’t getting the benefits of his fraudulent promises.
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