Deregulation of Derivatives
The casino like betting and gambling at AIG, the large banks, and home mortgage lenders played a big part in causing the current “Great Recession.” The odd thing is how poor most people’s memory is, including the news media.
In 1999 and 2000 derivatives and credit default swaps were deregulated. Prior to then several regulatory agencies kept things largely under control. The “free market fundamentalists” argued that the financial professionals in the private sector were much more sophisticated than the government regulators, and that if they were freed from the restrictions of all those pesky government regulations the market would function much more effectively.
I am a yellow dog Democrat, and I don’t think Bill Clinton was much looser sexually than many of his predecessors. So I am clearly not pro-Republican. But it needs to be noted that this deregulation of derivatives and credit default swaps took place during the Clinton presidency. He was in office until January 20, 2001. In a late night addition that apparently neither Presdient Clinton or any other senators were aware of, Senator Phil Graham inserted wording in legislation wich deregulated derivatives and credit default swaps.
There needs to be much more discussion right now about how to sensibly regulate all financial activities and much less of this shotgun approach of just wildly throwing money around hoping to prime the pump.
The problem with all this instantaneous spending is that these financial crooks on Wall Street really are pretty smart. And even now they are figuring out how to siphon away much of this money to their own private wealth. Part of the answer needs to be appropriate progressive taxation which applies at the end of all the loop holes, deductions, off shore tax shelters, tax losses, tax credits, stock options, etc. etc. Just like the alternative minimum tax now, but with genuine teeth.
The people in congress need to see to it that once a person’s income reaches the level of ten times that of the average school teacher in America the person’s earnings are taxed at a level of 50%, and when it reaches 15 times that of school teachers the tax needs to go up to 60%.
Of course what I am saying is wildly unrealistic. I am tilting at windmills again. Because of the vast corruption of elected government officials in America. What the politicians like to call “campaign contributions” are in fact bribes, and almost all elected officials have been bought and paid for by the rich people who are capable of making large campaign contributions. America has a representative form of democracy, and the elected officials in America first represent the prople who make the big campaign contributions. These politicians talk good, but when they look in the mirror they see nothing but a fraud.
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
