.....and yet The number of "stakeholders" in the current quasi-capitalist system is decreasing exponentially, and as the current stakeholders consolidate power exponentially, one must continue to wonder how long it's going to take before everything implodes..... Supporting the institutions and practices that lead to things like the LIBOR scandal in the name of "free markets" is an exercise akin to carefully aiming at your big toe and then shooting it clean off your foot. We've reached the very, very sad state where massive governments are the only existing institution capable of exercising any power over the (relative) handful of sociopaths who would gladly (and triumphantly) make all of our lives worse just so they can buy a 5th Bentley and another vacation home. And, even worse, those governments don't appear terribly interested in actually doing anything about it. Think in terms of the sum of harm - a murderer kills another man, and he goes to prison (at the least). Yet, a free-market sociopath harms tens of millions of people, disrupts the economic systems of entire nations, and enriches himself in the process .... and nothing really happens. The sociopathic speculators who tanked our ****ty economy still live in mansions, still drive hundred-thousand dollar cars, still are free from worry about paying their electric bill or sending their offspring to university. Meanwhile, the rest of us can get thrown in jail for failing to pay a traffic ticket. How long can this last? ....thought I'd get that in before all the armchair economists (who, really, aren't much different than the accredited economists) come in and treat this like it's a math problem.
ties in perfectly with this thread: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=218737 & post 28 most specifically It would be nice if journalists would just connect the dots here for the disengaged
This LIBOR thing is being blown out of proportion and the Taibbi quote is ridiculous lol. On the other side of Taibbi's quote would be the fact that if LIBOR was higher then the banks would have a higher cost of capital and they would have less profits to pay out as dividends. Anyhow, they need to adjust it to where it can't be manipulated as easily. It would be a relatively simple change from what I have heard. The real issue I see with it all is that the Fed knew what was going on and looked the other way because it benefitted their interest rate policies.
The Fed can't exactly get into bloody scraps with the BoE. From what I've seen, the BoE might be complicit in manipulation. However, even before the BoE made its' siren call, there is plenty of evidence to damn Barclays and perhaps a couple of other banks in that they were clearly setting benchmark rates according to their traders' intrests, which breaks the Chinese wall completely. People are just desperately trying to prop up a broken system.
15 big banks set LIBOR. I think it is extremely unlikely that the rest of the 15, the Bank o England and the Fed and its bankers were just unaware.
The Fed was probably aware, but it's powers are limited in scope when it comes to BBA submissions. I mean, they could penalize the American banks (JP Morgan Chase, and BAC) that set Libor rates, or the foreign subsidiaries based in America, but really it's the BoE that people need to start scrutinizing first.
That's not the discussion. If you want to talk about the structure of the banking system then that is something else. The big banks should be broken up imo.
This is the internet, and the LIBOR scandal does not exist in isolation from the current banking system... but this argument is relatively unimportant. I agree, but don't see it ever happening without drastic measures imposed from outside the institutions themselves (whatever those may be).
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...ls-for-bankers-to-face-the-music-7902920.html Thought this may be of interest.
