Public Comment

Who's Fooling Whom?

By Jimmy Holliman
Friday July 27, 2012 - 02:39:00 PM

Why is it the bankers and bureaucrats, the ones who have proven themselves to be the worst of all credit risks, are the ones who determine the loan borrowing rates and terms for the rest of us? It is a very simple, straightforward, and timely question that begs an answer. 

Let’s be honest here. The bankers and bureaucrats have bungled financial matters in this country very badly for the past few decades, like three (3) of them. They’ve developed a free-rent financial system for themselves that has resulted in bailout and scandal after bailout and scandal. They’ve created a financial system that constantly requires special accounting rules to be devised so that they can mark their financial assets to “make believe” numbers to magically manage their balance sheets, and imagined liquidity and solvency. What’s really remarkable is that the bankers and bureaucrats have needed continuous bailouts while borrowing unlimited sums of money at rates that they set for themselves. Not enough consideration? No worries. Need refinancing? Special refinancing program available to all insiders.  

It’s a truly incredible deal if you can get it. Incredulously, the bankers and bureaucrats have the audacity to ask the rest of us to place confidence in this same financial system and to trust them. Who’s fooling whom? Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us many times, we are the fools.  

And, they wonder what ails the economy.