Archive for the 'Politics' Category

In old world banking circles personal conduct was regulated by a moral code whereby honor and self-interest were joined at the hip. To put client capital at risk was a cardinal sin punishable by dishonor and disgrace and therefore unthinkable.

That was a century ago. Where Wall Street erred in judgment was when the giants hired physicists and mathematicians to construct  new financial instruments. These new guys were not steeped in the 100′s year old “Bankers Codes of Conduct”, nor was their family honor at stake. The financial instruments they designed were so complicated analysts were unable to evaluate them properly or assess their risk. Or, possibly, they didn‘t care

But when people are making money, and bankers are no exception, they don’t ask why. They just smile, act smart and bank the money. Effectively the morals clause implicit in traditional banking constructs no longer applied to these side bets. Since the banks, their shareholders, traders and brokerage houses were all making “bank” everybody was winning and the future was blindingly bright. That was only 2 years ago.

So we have all learned a valuable lesson again (for the third time). The notion that anything to do with money, actually gigantic money, could be self-regulating and the people involved trusted to do the “right thing” is a concept which has outlived its usefulness. Money corrupts – big Money corrupts completely. And forgetting the lessons of the past is suicidal.

I was listening to a fellow engineer (ancient like me)  on C-Span who became aware of a 4 bbl carburettor which delivered over 30 mpg…. back in 1966. He maintained the patent was purchased and the technology never utilized. The reason, he claimed, is the oil companies were in bed with the automakers and conspired to fleece the public with gas guzzlers. That greedy attitude prevailed until the CEO’s of the big three sank their companies. And now they want the people they exploited for 40 years to bail them out.

Same with the banking elite. The chiefs of our nation’s largest banks approved practices which, on paper, swelled those institutions earnings. They generated hundreds of billions of dollars of down-the-road false promise IOU’s and promptly converted that trash into real cash in their pockets. Now they are taking the gov’t bailout money and using it to pay themselves “deferred” bonuses based on those long gone phony profits. As a parting gift to the greediest pigs in the nation the leaders of that parade, the lame duck’s Bush and cronies, are making sure that happens.

What the unfortunate part of all this exploitation amounts to is the transfer of trillions of public dollars, which could be used for the public good and the health of our nation, to an extremely small portion of our population. Is this smart?

The best explanation I can find for a reason why people can hold such vastly different opinions after analyzing the same “facts” is provided by Farhad Manjoo in his book “True enough: Learning to live in a post-fact society”.  In his book Manjoo cites research which proves people tend to seek out information and interpret it in a way which confirms their beliefs, while avoiding information they find unpleasant or contrary. By looking for information which conforms to our beliefs we automatically bias our own opinions.  This tendency of everyone to screen their own input is called selective exposure by today’s psychologists.

What selective exposure has led to in the internet age is a splintering of society.  Since anyone can now seek out others online who hold similar opinions to their own, it is easy to dismiss all opinions contrary to those we prefer. “Facts” can always be found to support any theory, no matter how far off the beaten path or ridiculous.  Smoking is a perfect example.  Everybody should be able to agree on the fact that smoking either is or is not bad for our health. However, people still hold opinions and facts which support both sides of this argument.

So far society has been able to find its way between the “proven” positions of its extremists.  We all just need to remember that “facts” are in the mind of the holder as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and as such are subject to our own personal bias.  In the absence of conclusive proof to support any particular point of view we must realize all points of view have some validity.  Therefore, we all need to increase our tolerance to ideas contrary to our own. 

          About 140 years ago, following the Civil War, Northern businessmen flocked to the South with carpetbags, prepared (so Southerners thought) to loot and plunder the defeated South — to the victor belongs the spoils.  These carpetbaggers bought up the land at huge discounts to its’ former value, and then expected to reap huge profits in cotton with the help of the former slaves, now free men.  Most of these “businessmen” never developed a love for the land, like its previous owners had from birth, and subsequently hung on to the land just long enough to turn a nice profit.  They took their quickly gotten gains and headed elsewhere, changing little, but upping the cost of business for everyone else who followed them.
 
         Is this starting to sound familiar?

        Today’s carpetbaggers have not been trading in land.  Today’s “land” is now virtual real estate in the sense that what is being traded is not the physical property but the mortgage attached to the property – the financial instrument.  Today’s carpetbaggers went to Wall Street with bags full of mortgages all bundled together, and generated huge commissions based upon the cash flow assumed to be forthcoming from these mortgages.  Where the banking community erred was in assuming that there would be an endless supply of able buyers supplying these cash flows.  After all, during the period when all this creative financing was making lots of people millions of dollars, if a buyer had trouble meeting his payments he simply turned the property over to another buyer and more paper was created.  This paper took the form of second and third mortgages and balloon payments, and a plethora of new and esoteric financial instruments, all based on a forever upward price spiral in real estate.  After each “turnover” everyone involved helped themselves to profits and commissions, and even cash back to the purchaser on closing.

         Where this ends up is where we are now.  The carpetbaggers have sold their bundles of mortgages and moved on with their millions (billions), and the rest of us get left with their empty bag. It is too bad that the money these financial geniuses and masterminds made isn’t as virtual as the financial house of cards they build for us with it. What sickens me is the fact that all the phony profit these people made is being turned into real money as we speak, by the government.  Private profits turn into public losses.  For shame, for shame.

Out from the Alaskan wilderness comes a former beauty queen (runner-up) to the second highest office in the land.  Are you kidding me?  This stroke of brilliance from the Republican masterminds is a sleight-of-hand worthy of David Copperfield.  A party which has recently failed this country in every measure of merit common to industrial nations, and done so in opposition to the wishes of the public it governs, has successfully diverted public attention from the major issues facing our country. This speaks volumes about the public’s political savvy. I am in awe of the fact that a Republican candidate who has voted for the reckless policies of the Bush administration 90% of the time can manage to distance himself from the results of those policies.

       While the middle class has seen a drastic erosion of their real incomes, their standard of living, and their net worth and security (most middle-class American wealth is tied to the value of their home) the top 2% of the nation’s wealthiest people and corporations are still receiving bailouts and tax breaks.  It further astounds me that the people most negatively affected by the costs of unending wars and unconscionable price manipulations on the part of the oil barons would even consider electing someone closely associated with these disasters.

       It is beginning to look like the democrats’ decision to overlook Hillary Clinton for Obama’s running mate might be a fatal one. Americans seem to be more interested in a pretty face at the podium than in the war, the economy, education or health care.  So be it.  We get the government we deserve.

       But wait!  Breaking news!  The Bush policy of laissez-faire with regard to corporate financial responsibility is actually making news again.  As a few more of our oldest, largest, and most respected institutions crumble, Wall Street takes the worst beating since 9/11/01. This, unlike oil prices, won’t have as much impact on the middle class.  It is America’s wealthiest who suffer most from collapsing stock market prices. If the current administration’s fiscal policies carry forward to the next administration, more government bailouts of private institutions will undoubtedly be necessary.

       Maybe this latest example of the disastrous Bush years will refocus the public on how we got here. In a few short months we will have our answer.  Hopefully sanity will prevail and the middle class will have looked past lipstick and rhetoric.  Our national focus will move away from the acquisition of obsolete and environmentally harmful energy sources by any means possible, including more war.  With a responsible and forward thinking administration we can develop those resources we have an abundance of here, like sunshine, propane, and clean nuclear and coal power.

        One final note.  It is a real possibility that McCain could have health issues.  In spite of the fact that he is in the tightest race in his political career, he has managed to take ample time off and uses weekends to recoup.  He is likely to be the last person in politics to accept a 3 a.m. phone call. His age must be considered.  If, God for bid, he should succumb to the pressures he inherits from his predecessor, Sarah Palin will step up to the plate.  The fate of the free world would then, theoretically, rest in the hands of a prolific soccer mom.

       PS: Anyone who thinks a hawk like McCain will back off our military spending to save the economy needs a reality check.