When we think of Adam Smith, the great Scottish philosopher and economist, and his seminal book The Wealth of Nations, we are inclined to think of free markets, individual self-interest, and the invisible hand. However, reading another good book recently, How Markets Fail by John Cassidy, I was reminded there
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CuriosityCat: Jail the Bankers, says UK Report
Ever since the financial meltdown of 2007, bankers and rating agencies responsible for much of the damage done to the world’s financial systems have escaped criminal liability (apart from a small number of cases). The USA ignored the responsibility of bankers for the 2007 Crash, preferring to pump money into
Continue readingWhy the Wall Street gang aren’t in jail
Many Canadians (and many more Americans) ask the eminently reasonable question, Why aren’t the bankers who precipitated the financial collapse of 2008 in jail? The damage they inflicted on the U.S. alone was immense: a loss of $11-trillion of personal wealth and 5.5 million jobs, and the foreclosure of over
Continue readingThe amusing story of JPMorgan Chase
Reading about the latest foibles of JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, one cannot help but chuckle. CEO Jamie Dimon initially reported a trading blunder had cost the bank a mere $2-billion and dismissed concerns as a “tempest in a teapot.” He now admits the tempest may
Continue readingLeft Over: Crisis? What Crisis?
What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada CBC News Posted: May 25, 2012 1:44 PM ET This doesn’t sound like much of a Canadian crisis to me, and as for a real estate bubble..doesn’t matter what you ‘blame’ it on, much of big-city Canadian housing is horribly
Continue readingHow Wall Street buys Washington
Oh, those fickle Wall Street bankers. In 2008, Barack Obama was their man for president. They lavished $71-million on the Democratic candidate, $10-million more than on his Republican rival. Goldman Sachs was Obama’s major contributor. In the current campaign, they are laying out the largesse again, outspending all other special
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