10/10/2008

Seppuku Without Sword

The honorable thing for our business titans to do would be to disembowel themselves by means of a sword plunged into their collective gut and then twisted to cause maximum pain. In spite of the credit crises caused in large part by banks, hedge funds, and all the other on and off book lenders they will not stop their headlong dash to financial suicide. But nothing will cure what ails us at this late date.
Self interest
is on display as CitiGroup and Wells Fargo decide to battle in court over who gets to take over a bankrupt third party bank no matter how much damage their futile battle does to the U.S. What is important is profit right now and fuck anything else. It's silly for any of us to suppose that these multi-nationals are American or British or anything other than what they really are: money. This is a serious problem and an administration in Washington without any direction or courage won't move to do what has to be done, which is compel a deal without consequence for either party. Forget free enterprise because this current version of free enterprise is simply monopoly capitalism existing only because we have allowed it. We are witnessing a stupid ritual where our capitalism dresses itself in robes of red white and blue, and bringing a second along with them to chop off their heads after the initial stomach ripping evisceration, they pretend honor they never had. My opinion is that American style capitalism has disemboweled itself through use of the ritual sword of patriotism in order to preserve their honor while they take most of us to the Promised Land with them. We all feel the sword in our collective intestine as it twists til all our savings, investments, college funds, and futures are destroyed.

It is generally agreed that the G8 must act in concert to avoid a world wide depression, and we all know they won't. The really difficult chores are generally agreed upon and summed up here.

As I write this we are poised at the edge of world wide depression, caused by us. We have to trust in a bunch of former Goldman Sachs "experts" to guide us out. Maybe they will or can. Just pray.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Governments have been stealing the saved up wealth of productive citizens through debasement of fiat currency for decads. They just could not refrain from getting too greedy. Who knew that Europe halved the capital requirement for banks at the start of this worldwide real estate bubble? Did you? We've had a`NASDAQ bubble, a commodities bubble (oil from $40 to $150, sheeze)a real estate bubble (a twenty foot wide row house in Dublin going for $4 mil). I'll agree derivitives and swaps went crazy.

Still, you cannot guaranty everything, people forgot why there were limits to guaranties. I predict a currency collapse followed by a new Brenton Woods. Perhaps all major currencies will be backed by gold, with on demand convertability. Then there will be a true store of value. Too bad about all the current savings wiped out. You should have never trusted those elites in Washington and Brussels.