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Occupy Wall Street -- A banker's perspective

The whole financial mess (the continuing saga with PrimeX) that began in earnest in 2008 has finally created demonstrations in America!  One has to wonder why it took so long.  American banks were "rescued" by the U.S. government, and the next day, effectively, accused the government of having too much debt.  Moreover, U.S. banks that were in 2008, deemed Too Big To Fail, are bigger than ever, because the "Treasury" backstop  ensures that they cannot go bankrupt.  

Over the weekend, OWS said:  what would happen if we took all our money out of Bank of America?   The bank's answered "F-you we don't care".  What other business in the world can afford to alienate one million customer with impunity?  Their basic "beef" is with Socialism for the banks and capitalism for everyone else! Banks (and bankers) got bailed out and the rest of America got screwed.   They see no relief from their government;   it is well know that both houses of Congress have been bought and paid for by corporation. BTW and as far as I am concerned the day a corporation is executed in Texas is the day that I will believe that a corporation is a person!    OWS has taken the next obvious step:  if it worked in Egypt maybe it will work in America.

Of course up here in Canada the banks didn't need rescuing (2008) -- they needed liquidity (not the same thing) that the Bank of Canada provided, and was promptly repaid once the money market stopped freaking out.  Most people don't understand the difference between liquidity and solvency problems (e.g. one is a flow the other a stock problem).  Greece is not a liquidity problem, it is a solvency problem 



 

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