The Wizards of Wall Street have fallen from grace due to greed and some should be in jail due to corruption and fraud. The tone deaf insensitive and PR deficit CEOs of the Big Three automaker how took their private corporate jets to Congress to beg for taxpayer bailouts was seen as ignorance, arrogance and insouciance – which it was. It was child’s play compared to the almost $20 billion of bonus payout the investment bankers blessed themselves in New York alone, after they got billions of taxpayer money.
The next time some superficial self-satisfied captain of commerce tells me governments should be run more like business I think I will explode. Given the greed, corruption and indifference too many of these self-satisfied sanctimonious scumbags has shown to serving the public interest and lack of respect to their social license to operate I think the business community better shake its collective head and do some serious soul searching about its roles and responsibilities.
I don’t like over regulation but I detest under regulation even more. It was the latter that led to a lax governing philosophy that was bred by too much of the small government, regulation elimination mantra of the fundamentalist conservative politicians that helped to get us into this mess and economic meltdown.
Those neo-con politicians and their “free enterprise” campaign funders have forgotten that the economy is a social value system that we humans invented. It is intended to serve the needs of our society - not the other way around.
When the economic system gets distorted to the point where greed and corruption become normalized then citizens have to get reengaged and start insisting some heads get banged together and some other heads roll. We need to start making some serious demands of the politicians, regulators and to start to tar and feather, Internet style, those psychopathic self-satisfied corporate privateers who are cheating us and rip us off and then begging for taxpayer bailouts.
The cost of taxpayer cash to corporate bailouts must be much more public and regulatory scrutiny, operational transparency, fiscal accountability and governance controls on the private sector that gets the cash. They must be expected to satisfy the same ethical rigour, operational accountability and disclosure diligence that we expect of government officials and public servants. It is time we insisted that industry acted according to the same level of social service standards as we expect from government if they get a taxpayer bailout.
If you Masters of the Universe types expect taxpayer bailouts to be invested, lent and granted to your “free” enterprises in order to save your asses, then expect serious on-going open and transparent public accountability and scrutiny as one of the cost of raising that social capital from us citizens.
You supercilious business guys always knew that you are the “smartest guys in the room” - in any room - right? So I am sure you will have no trouble getting this new reality of accountability and transparency that will be imposed on you in exchange for taxpayer money.
Excellent post Mr Chapman. I particularly like the wording " where greed and corruption become normalized". Really it makes our economic system look like similiar to a banana republic.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of free enterprise but what is being done now is corrupt. Abracabra, shift some paper, package the paper for retail and presto super genius. No real value created just hocus pocus.
Re "You supercilious business guys always knew that you are the “smartest guys in the room” - in any room - right? So I am sure you will have no trouble getting this new reality of accountability and transparency that will be imposed on you in exchange for taxpayer money"
ReplyDeleteLOL. Who is going to impose the "new reality of accountability and transparency," Ken? You? Ed Stelmach, of the I-don't-like-the-OAG's report on oil revenues, I think I'll go buy a new one, and while I'm at it, I think I'll give myself-a 34% raise now that-I've been in office a few months? Stephen Harper, he of the watered-down Accountability Act and now-I'm in power - I think I like the Senate after all? France and Iceland know what to do with govt screw-ups - they organized, they mobilized, and in Iceland they took them down. France probably will, too. You won't get any more accountability in Canada. Too much complacency. And laziness.
Marnie Tunay Fakirs Canada http://fakirscanada.spaces.live.com/
Oh snap!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post Ken - I guess that puts the ball in the court of those of us who give a **** to fix things.
I like the post, with the exception of the diatribe against "...neo-con politicians and their “free enterprise” campaign funders..."
ReplyDeleteThis is not a Republican versus Democrat issue. For one, subprime problems originated back in the Clinton Democratic administration, where executives in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were tight with that party (they were savvy enough to donate to both parties, but the balance of contributions were to the Dems). Bush II failed to get a handle on subprime as well - as did Greenspan - and he bears blame also.
It is also worth pointing out that New York is a state that nearly/always swings Democratic. Bloomberg as Mayor is about as conservative as you get, which is to say, not very much.
The problem is simply money. CEOs of the big investment firms occupy another plane of existence, and they are able to maintain that lifestyle by substantial donations to political parties and by growing their businesses to sizes that are "too big to fail". Also key to our current financial crisis is the huge growth in derivative instruments, the innovation of which far outpaces the ability of government - any government - to keep up with.
This crisis was caused by equal parts individual greed (buy and flip property), government timidity, and corporate excess. The corporate excess will be cleansed to some extent as the fallout is tabulated. And governments are being forced to intervene to forestall an even worse outcome. But individual greed - and the inability of people to deal with the consequences of their own actions - we've been stuck with that forever.
As an aside, interesting to note that Bernie Ebbers (Worldcom) and Jeff Skilling (Enron) got jail time. Stan O'Neil (Merril Lynch) got a $140 million severance.