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Non-Tech : Derivatives: Darth Vader's Revenge -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (1784)	3/29/2011 3:10:12 AM
From: axial	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2794

Hi Sam - Re: "Any fool can govern when things are good, the only answer for Mother Eire is to default and let the financial sector clean up its own mess." Indeed. But whole nations are being held hostage by the financial sector; the threat is dire economic consequences for those who default. Whether we're talking about the criminal use of swaps and derivatives in Alabama, Greece, or Ireland it's clear the financial sector has gutted the economies of many jurisdictions, while making millions of people slaves to debt. '‘Unjust Enrichment’ - JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to a $722 million settlement with the SEC in November to end an investigation of the bank’s derivatives sales to Jefferson County without either admitting or denying wrongdoing. The firm paid a $25 million penalty, gave $50 million to Jefferson County and agreed to cancel $647 million in fees the county faced to unwind the transactions. Alabama’s most populous county has sued JPMorgan, alleging fraud, conspiracy and “unjust enrichment against those who have brought the county and its citizens to the brink of financial disaster while lining their own pockets.” In Pennsylvania, state Auditor General Jack Wagner has asked lawmakers to repeal legislation passed in 2003 that allowed school districts and local governments to enter into swaps, which he said are “tantamount to gambling with taxpayer money.” In April he said the state’s turnpike commission would lose $145.7 million, almost three months of toll revenue, if it had to terminate its swaps on more than $2.23 billion in debt.' bloomberg.com --- How did we get here? What lead us to the point where the financial sector was unleashed to become a global predator, preying on individuals, municipalities, states, provinces and whole nations? As Matt Taibbi says, "But the kinds of things that went on at Goldman and other investment banks, in many cases there are not even laws on the books to deal with these things. In some cases what we’re talking about is the highly complicated merger of crime and policy, of stealing and government, which is both fascinating from a journalistic point of view and ought to be terrifying from the point of view of any citizen, rich or poor." trueslant.com --- A large part of the answer is here: The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom en.wikipedia.org Better than any other, this documentary places some of the greatest intellectual influences of our time in context, and gives meaning to the events that resulted. Like any documentary with such sweep, it is incomplete. Detractors have been quick to seize on deficiencies, but the work resonates with truth. It can be viewed here, full-screen -- archive.org Or, on Google. It consists of three 1-hour segments: 1. "Fuck You Buddy" 2. "The Lonely Robot" 3. "We Will Force You To Be Free" --- If you want to know what happened to the Public Interest, if you wonder where the ethics went, if you want to understand how and why corporations govern and erosion of the middle class this documentary will explain many (though not all) of the contributing factors. If you want to understand the birth of neoliberal economics this is a good introduction. If you want to understand what "freedom" in emerging democracies will be, the answer is simple: it will be the same "freedom" we are facing now: slaves to debt in dysfunctional economies. Highly recommended: not as a complete understanding, but as a thought-provoking beginning. Jim