I know - weird title. However that's what I think looking at what's going on in the U.S of the A. These shrewd investment bankers went all out to make money in every which way they could. Alas, they were shrewd but stupid at the same time. Giving out bad loans, buying out bad investments. They did everything that got them a fat paycheck and hefty bank balances. Now, when they get hit and are just about beginning to learn a well-deserved lesson the Treasury offers to pump in more money to keep them afloat. I mean what the heck. There are thousands of the common folks left with their investments lying in the drain. Their savings have been shaved off directly or indirectly by the tactics that these big firms unleashed on the markets. Yet, it is their tax dollars that is being used to bail out the villains of the story.
Maybe, I understand it wrong but it sounds like outright dumbness to me. $700 billion!!! That's a huge number of tax-payer dollars and the Treasury wants to just hand it over to these witless suits and in return for what? Bad investments? Lots and lots of them. The Treasury's claim is that once the conditions improve these investments (bad now, better later?) will bring in good returns. The catch, however, is that nobody knows exactly what these investments are worth. Yeah, that's right. Just read the articles on the web on this and you will know how confusing it is with so many under-writings, mortgages and . You will need an MBA just to understand these terms. All this complexity was put in there by these financial "institutions" to inflate their networth and their bank balances. In the end, an investment worth $1 was now valued at many many times that and these biggies refused to acnowledge their true values even when they were faced with the reality that the market was in a mess.
In effect, all the big suits can relax in their beach houses that get saved by the bailouts. They will probably buy up some more villas in a small, green island and retire with their riches.
What happens to the common man? Nothing good! He will lose his home, he will have to pay more for loans and he will end up in shambles. When has the world ever cared about the common man except when asking for his dollars.
I agree that by financing some biggie corporate there are some indirect goodness that comes out of it. Take, for example, the Karnataka govt offering land to the Tatas. Yes, it will generate more jobs and help better the economy in general. But will it be worth the 1000 acres of land that will be grabbed from the same common man? Nobody knows and nobody ever cares. So long as their banks are brimming over with money the "government" never cares.
Very valid! I somehow steer clear of monetary discussions (not because money is the root of all evil and women, but because it doesn't make sense to my simple mind) but the recent going on in the US market makes me wonder how sensible all of this is.
Watch "A Wednesday" for a take by a common man!! I think it is high time the common man woke up.