A rankling thought • 28 October 2008 • The SnowBlog
A rankling thought
The Bank of England are estimating the cost of this current market hiccup as being $2,800,000,000,000. That's getting on for three trillion dollars if I've hit the zero key the right number of times. I can't help wondering how that figure compares with profits from the shadow banking sector since the banking rules that were introduced following the 1929 crash were eased about a decade ago. Wouldn't it be ironic/galling/coincidental if the amount of money required to bail out the financial sector was exactly the amount that the financial sector had made off with in profits by doing dodgy deals? Because that would make it clear that those yachts and Porsches and third homes were effectively paid for with public money. And people might ask for some or all of it back. Not that I can imagine that happening. But you combine that three trillion with the three trillion the Iraq War has cost and pretty soon ordinary people are going to start noticing there's a problem. In fact, in America, I think they have. But the proof will be on election day. I have my fingers crossed that the least corporate-sponsored (front-running) candidate of recent years will carry the day. I intend to let off some fireworks to celebrate.
Rob
The Bank of England are estimating the cost of this current market hiccup as being $2,800,000,000,000. That's getting on for three trillion dollars if I've hit the zero key the right number of times. I can't help wondering how that figure compares with profits from the shadow banking sector since the banking rules that were introduced following the 1929 crash were eased about a decade ago. Wouldn't it be ironic/galling/coincidental if the amount of money required to bail out the financial sector was exactly the amount that the financial sector had made off with in profits by doing dodgy deals? Because that would make it clear that those yachts and Porsches and third homes were effectively paid for with public money. And people might ask for some or all of it back. Not that I can imagine that happening. But you combine that three trillion with the three trillion the Iraq War has cost and pretty soon ordinary people are going to start noticing there's a problem. In fact, in America, I think they have. But the proof will be on election day. I have my fingers crossed that the least corporate-sponsored (front-running) candidate of recent years will carry the day. I intend to let off some fireworks to celebrate.