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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (2174)	2/15/1998 12:05:00 PM
From: Jack Clarke	Respond to of 9980

Mohan, RE: The S&L crisis, here is a good overview: smart1.net Your taxpayers' loss figures are off by a factor of at least a thousand, though, as I see it (I'm not great at math). In the 1920s, a similar debacle occurred, and it cost the taxpayers $200 million. The infamous one during the Reagan-Bush period is supposed to cost as much as a trillion, counting future interest, etc. The paradox of insurance, beneficial and pernicious at the same time, allows individuals and organizations to take major risks without worry. This, and the "deregulation" of the industry led to the abuse and the ultimate failure which, again, was paid for by the taxpayer, rich or poor. I have similar qualms about the IMF bailout of financial folly in Asia, as I did about the bailout of Mexico. They always say, "just one more time", and we will have learned our lesson. But as we learn from our earliest writings (Ecclesiastes) and our philosophers (Santayana), people and governments do not learn from the past and therefore are doomed to repeat it. Jack

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (2174)	2/15/1998 12:21:00 PM
From: Ramsey Su	Respond to of 9980

Mohan, "....issue of US S&L fiasco.If I recall correctly, it cost the U.S tax-payers couple of hundred million dollars to bail them out....." you are off by a factor of many zeros. Try reading "S&L Hell" by (somebody whose name I forgot) a woman, who covered story for either WSJ or NY Times. Very good account of the fiasco. Japan is having the same problem now except the price tag may even be higher. Even though RTC wasted billions of taxpayers money due to its inefficiencies and stupidity, it did accomplish the task that congress formed the corporation for. More amazing was the fact that the RTC was actually dissolved at the designated time, leaving FDIC to mop up just some inconsequential loose ends. It may not be as simple in Japan and through time, the dirty laundry is starting to air piece by piece. I suspect that Japan's unwillingness to deal with what should be so obvious for so long has more to do with individuals involved. I am looking forward to the day that the Japanese banks and government finally fess up. That could be a significant indicator that the Asian market has hit bottom. Ramsey