Brahm

Unintended Consequences of Four Government Policies

In lieu of "mark to market" what should we have so that shareholders and investors are not deceived out of their money, wealth, savings and pensions? Don't tell me to trust the market place which nowadays mean mostly and predominantly scumbugs (or in genteel language the boys on Wall Street and a few others, including the hypers and entitled insiders who gave us the bubbles in '98 and the recent one. The smart money as they call it nowadays are few in numbers and mostly consist of species like these, while the poor investors who usually take the lumps are the majority. But the investor are also part timers or indirect stakeholders because they are too busy earning a living elsewhere. As a result they are easy victims whose pensions and savings plans have gone to the dogs. With the two bubbles in the last ten years, there has been a massive transfer of wealth in this nation from them to the very few. It is as though investing has become a zero sum game, especially with the Government and SEC unwittingly asleep in their jobs!

Hedge Funds May Have Gone Too Far

Well, yes, it is unfair that the big boys at GS, MS andat many other enteprises have the clout to get protection for themselves, while they have been guilty of practises of the same kind in behalf of their clients and their own accounts in the past. But this is not a fair world, and was probably never meant to be. However, nore important, somebody should have had the gumption to call for the firing of Christopher Cox a long time ago. McCaine has finally done it yesterday -- too late and perhaps only because he is running for election and Cox has been one of the sore points in this election. In my view, it is a fault to appoint anyone who has served in Congress or the Senate to a post in a business related field, such as as the SEC or the Board of a financial public enterprise. Political sense is simply in conflict with dollar and cent propriety too often and in strange ways.