Comments on: Wall Street on Pace to Hand Out Record $140B in Employee Bonuses As Foreclosures Hit All-Time High http://www.ustvmedia.org/video/2009/10/18/wall-street-on-pace-to-hand-out-record-140b-in-employee-bonuses-as-foreclosures-hit-all-time-high/ Fri, 18 May 2012 09:52:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: Andy http://www.ustvmedia.org/video/2009/10/18/wall-street-on-pace-to-hand-out-record-140b-in-employee-bonuses-as-foreclosures-hit-all-time-high/#comment-45641 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:04:59 +0000 http://www.ustvmedia.org/video/2009/10/18/wall-street-on-pace-to-hand-out-record-140b-in-employee-bonuses-as-foreclosures-hit-all-time-high/#comment-45641 As a long-time business owner and proprietor myself, I too lament the fact that "profit" has become so besmirched by the conditions of our time. I would like myself to be making "record profits" (as opposed to just profits off of a record), but at what cost, and to whose expense? The issue here isn't profit, but *how* those profits are derived, which in the cases of these financial institutions, is more in line with how a cartel or mafia does business than anything resembling the ideal, theoretical world of Adam Smith-style capitalism that Rhonda's note seems to imply continues to exist, against all evidence to the contrary. As there are so many aspects to her comments here which would be grounds for more in depth discussion and rebuttal, I can only in scope of the limited time available re-submit as evidence of indictment of the practices of these institutions the perspectives of William Black, for which links are provided in the article. Also, his book "The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One" is reading I would like to recommend to Rhonda, along with Kevin Phillips' great book "Wealth and Democracy." This book goes into thorough research and historical detail about how the "record profits" being racked up today by these institutions are not only wildly out of proportion to the income derived by the rest of society. Such a condition is not only dangerous to the future ability to operate anything resembling a democratic society which provides the necessary social mobility and egalitarian opportunity for it to sustain itself, but history shows us that those conditions, particularly with the financial-ization of an economy which ours has become, is a thoroughly fatal condition for the future sustenance of that society. We are no longer a democratic society which uses capitalist economics as a tool for enhancing wealth and opportunity, but have rather devolved into a market society, where all interactions are commodified and everything is for sale, including the rules. This is corporate crony capitialism writ large. When the dichotomy between those who have wealth and those who don't becomes as extreme as ours has in the U.S. (the greatest disparity in our history), that bodes very ill for the future prognosis for the continued stability of that society. The point being made by Black and others, which Rhonda's note is not addressing, is that this condition is not occurring because of the pluck and entrepreneurial initiative of a few businessmen, but rather from the systematic manipulation of the rules of the market by the few at the expense of the many. The plundering of public resources for private profit. The process of socializing the costs and privatizing the gains. It is a condition for which the original American Revolutionaries fought against, the idea that government was a tool to confer privilege upon insiders. As for the Banksters, here is a website that came my way recently, which may be of some interest... http://www.stopbankgreed.org/get-the-facts/ As a long-time business owner and proprietor myself, I too lament the fact that “profit” has become so besmirched by the conditions of our time. I would like myself to be making “record profits” (as opposed to just profits off of a record), but at what cost, and to whose expense? The issue here isn’t profit, but *how* those profits are derived, which in the cases of these financial institutions, is more in line with how a cartel or mafia does business than anything resembling the ideal, theoretical world of Adam Smith-style capitalism that Rhonda’s note seems to imply continues to exist, against all evidence to the contrary.

As there are so many aspects to her comments here which would be grounds for more in depth discussion and rebuttal, I can only in scope of the limited time available re-submit as evidence of indictment of the practices of these institutions the perspectives of William Black, for which links are provided in the article.

Also, his book “The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One” is reading I would like to recommend to Rhonda, along with Kevin Phillips’ great book “Wealth and Democracy.” This book goes into thorough research and historical detail about how the “record profits” being racked up today by these institutions are not only wildly out of proportion to the income derived by the rest of society. Such a condition is not only dangerous to the future ability to operate anything resembling a democratic society which provides the necessary social mobility and egalitarian opportunity for it to sustain itself, but history shows us that those conditions, particularly with the financial-ization of an economy which ours has become, is a thoroughly fatal condition for the future sustenance of that society. We are no longer a democratic society which uses capitalist economics as a tool for enhancing wealth and opportunity, but have rather devolved into a market society, where all interactions are commodified and everything is for sale, including the rules. This is corporate crony capitialism writ large.

When the dichotomy between those who have wealth and those who don’t becomes as extreme as ours has in the U.S. (the greatest disparity in our history), that bodes very ill for the future prognosis for the continued stability of that society. The point being made by Black and others, which Rhonda’s note is not addressing, is that this condition is not occurring because of the pluck and entrepreneurial initiative of a few businessmen, but rather from the systematic manipulation of the rules of the market by the few at the expense of the many. The plundering of public resources for private profit. The process of socializing the costs and privatizing the gains. It is a condition for which the original American Revolutionaries fought against, the idea that government was a tool to confer privilege upon insiders.

As for the Banksters, here is a website that came my way recently, which may be of some interest…
http://www.stopbankgreed.org/get-the-facts/

]]> by: Rhonda http://www.ustvmedia.org/video/2009/10/18/wall-street-on-pace-to-hand-out-record-140b-in-employee-bonuses-as-foreclosures-hit-all-time-high/#comment-45593 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:07:17 +0000 http://www.ustvmedia.org/video/2009/10/18/wall-street-on-pace-to-hand-out-record-140b-in-employee-bonuses-as-foreclosures-hit-all-time-high/#comment-45593 As an entrepreneur, I am mortified by the fact that the word "profit" or "record profits" has a worse connotation than words that used to cause mothers to put soap in their child's mouths. The reason that JP Morgan is profitable is because a)they have cut personnel and become more streamlined, more efficient and b)because they are not making as many "bad" loans. How is this a bad thing? In business school, we are taught that Surviving is good, but Thriving is great (it allows for longevity and wouldn't a little job security be good right now?) This economic climate is tough, but you can't expect businesses to give up. The reason they are making gains is because they have made good choices. Maybe the rest of us should look at what they have done and apply it to our own finances instead of being mad because they did something right. The other good news is, it looks as if many of these firms have been able to make plenty of money to pay back the TARP funds they were originally given. Let's see if the government actually lets them give it back. As an entrepreneur, I am mortified by the fact that the word “profit” or “record profits” has a worse connotation than words that used to cause mothers to put soap in their child’s mouths. The reason that JP Morgan is profitable is because a)they have cut personnel and become more streamlined, more efficient and b)because they are not making as many “bad” loans. How is this a bad thing? In business school, we are taught that Surviving is good, but Thriving is great (it allows for longevity and wouldn’t a little job security be good right now?)

This economic climate is tough, but you can’t expect businesses to give up. The reason they are making gains is because they have made good choices. Maybe the rest of us should look at what they have done and apply it to our own finances instead of being mad because they did something right.

The other good news is, it looks as if many of these firms have been able to make plenty of money to pay back the TARP funds they were originally given. Let’s see if the government actually lets them give it back.

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