Amazingly enough, we survived the depression, and many people came out a lot stronger. Debt was minimal, people learned what was important, and they all learned that actions had consequences.
Instead, the nanny state has decreed that the very people responsible for the mess, who are the Fed, the IBs, the commercial banks, the monolines, the ratings agencies, and the government oversight agencies, will be bailed out by joe taxpayer. The bank execs are still pulling down their multimillion $$$ salaries but joe taxpayer sees a huge increase in daily expenses and joe taxpayers children and grandchildren will live in a country that will either 1) be so underwater in debt that we inflate our way out of it or 2) we default on our debt and we become just another failed state with citizens paying the price in prosperity.
You miss the entire point. If failure is not an option, then no consequences occur and no lessons are learned. Has JPM accepted any further regulations to the effect of unwinding their derivatives positions, deleveraging, bringing crap back on their balance sheets, running a transparent business so their shareholders don’t wind up paying for management mistakes ?
No. There were no consequences to anyone other than BSC shareholders and lower-level employees. Did these people deserve to pay, or should the a$$hats in management who approved the overleveraging been the ones to pay ?
Welcome to the nanny state, where people making 7,8,9 and 10 figure salaries and bonuses are considered worthy of bailouts. God, this stuff makes me sick.
You're right
- why should Chase or Bear or anyone reduce risk - and the extra profit that comes with extra risk...
if in fact there is no risk.
Next time, it'll be worse.
Much worse.