Many commentators have put forward their explanations for there being no criminal prosecutions of any of the banks, not even Goldman Sachs, who certainly helped bring down the financial system and contributed to The Great Recession. According to Danny Schechter's article entitled, Will banksters get away with it? found on Mike Chambers Live blog, the explanation for no prosecutions is to be found in the focus on the institution rather than the individual in the institution.
The changes to the financial sector were made for the advantage of the institution rather than for the benefit of all American citizens. Schechter's column lists 10 changes in the economy that paved the way for the success of the banks that, ironically, created the failure of the financial system.
These are summarized as follows:
The banks made large investments towards lobbying politicians; they created exotic derivatives that some could not understand; the regulators ignored the possibilities of fraud; the media was compliant rather than inquisitive; fines, rather than criminal prosecutions, were used to "punish" banks which did not have to admit their guilt; the conglomeration of many businesses into one entity created large unmanageable institutions; the lack of rules and regulations nationally and internationally gave banks too much power; few or no intense investigations by the Justice Department gave banks carte blanche; and, finally, the criminality and immorality of banks like Goldman Sachs were just ignored and overlooked.
You can read the entire article here
1 COMMENTS:
Sounds familiar, no?
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Run by the elite, developed secretly by the elite, the Fed poses as a public benefit when in fact its decisions are made by a handful of private men and the money it prints out of thin air must necessarily benefit the "powers that be" that created the Fed in the first place. It may be that historians look back and declare that the 20th century and parts of the 21st are to be known as the "Mercantilist Era."
Unsustainability of Modern Capitalism
John Perkins: I can't speculate on what might have happened if
corporations were not created but capitalism has been around for about
400 years and has taken many different forms. But in the last years
since the 70s, and particularly beginning in 1980 when Ronald Reagan,
then President of the United States, many leaders around the world
embraced what I call predatory capitalism, which is very well defined
by the economist, Milton Friedman, from the Chicago School of
Economics.
Friedman said the only goal of business should be to maximize profits
regardless of the social or environmental costs. That was a radical
statement. When I went to business school in the 60s, we were taught
that a good CEO makes a decent rate of return for his investors, but
he also has to be a good citizen and the corporation should be a good
community citizen. Pay reasonable taxes. Take care of the suppliers,
take care of the employees; take care of the customers, not just
profits.
So we entered this phase where we have embraced this form of
capitalism that says maximize profits regardless of the social or
environmental cost. It's a terribly destructive and unsustainable
philosophy to have and we must turn that around. My goal or
orientation is to try to make corporations become more responsible.
The new goal should be go ahead and make a decent rate of return for
your investors, but only to do so on a playing field that says we are
going to be sustainable and just and peaceful. They are the public
servants and they should realize they have a greater obligation than
making just maximizing profit
http://www.thedailybell.com/1791/Anthony-Wile-with-John-Perkins-on-His-Best-Selling-Book-Confessions-of-an-Economic-Hit-Man-and-the-Unsustainability-of-Modern-Capitalism.html
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