" Instead of prosecuting, the government throws money at them
" As Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz noted years ago:
"The system is set so that even if you're caught, the penalty is just a small number relative to what you walk home with. The fine is just a cost of doing business. It's like a parking fine. Sometimes you make a decision to park knowing that you might get a fine because going around the corner to the parking lot takes you too much time."
Slowly, these concerns are working their way into the media but without much of the larger framework presented in a dire global economic report on just how deeply the world economy has been wounded.
The UN reported that
it will take until 2017 before jobs come back to pre crisis levels, if they
ever do, Global recession could easily deepen given the problems with the US,
European and, now, the Chinese economies.
Much of this tracks
back to the financial crimes that are just officially being acknowledged. It's
important to remember the warnings of Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter who, years
ago, referred to the criminal practices
of big bankers, when he said: "Never have so few done so much to so many."
Also note that none of
this "back story" is ever referenced in the reporting on the so-called "fiscal
cliff" negotiations. It is rarely mentioned how much of the money owed is in
interest due banks. We keep hearing reports about our economic woes without any
discussion of what is behind it.
News Dissector Danny Schechter directed two films on financial crimes, In Debt We Trust," and Plunder." He also wrote "The Crime of Our Time" about bank rip-offs. (Disinformation Books.) He blogs at Newsdissector.net. He hosts a show on ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com (PRN.fm).
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
