A Crisis of Capitalism

 
 The Wages of Sin, Apparently

Among the scandals that have surfaced since the US sub-prime market came apart in 2008, the currently unraveling LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offer Rate) fixing conspiracy is the granddaddy of them all.  The interest rates for inter-bank lending in London might seem remote, but LIBOR influences every credit instrument a consumer can buy.  Mortgages, car loans, credit card rates, home equity loans, almost everything with an interest rate is based partly on LIBOR.  So if banks were fixing LIBOR, you are paying for it.

The Economist, not exactly a bunch of Marxists, said that the scandal exposes “the rotten heart of finance”.  They posit that the resulting lawsuits could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in penalties for the banks involved.  Some of the remaining too big to fail banks may fail as a result, leading to more bailouts.  And the list of banks being investigated is breathtaking; Barclays (who co-operated and got hammered in the press), Royal Bank of Scotland, Citi, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Deutche Bank.  That’s just for starters.  Even the Bank of Fucking England, and possibly the US Fed were involved.  Investigations are going on in the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, and the EU.

LIBOR is supposed to be the shining example of what an efficient market can do.  Fixing the rate should result in market imbalances that attract arbitrage which re-balances the market.  Clearly, this did not happen.  Probably because too many people were in on the game, probably because the imbalances were being concealed as well.  Rather than being the proof of market efficiency (the key advantage of a capitalist system), the scandal proves that there can be no efficient markets without regulation and policing.  Pure Capitalism doesn’t work, just like pure Marxism didn’t work.  Both, it seems, devolved into utterly corrupt, unaccountable gangs of thieves that enriched themselves at everyone else’s expense.

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This is not going to end well.

Colorado Fires

     Source: Scott Seibold

Cororado Springs, this morning.

Many more sensational photos here.

Family Matters

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

With the hot weather, windows are open around the neighborhood.  I've heard three loud family disputes.  One family of Racoons, two families of humans.  The three fights sounded almost the same, except the Racoons can keep it going way longer than the humans. 

Fun Facts To Know And Share

2.7
Number of Popes per square kilometer in the Vatican.

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Good Link

Here is a frame by frame comparison of Simpson's movie references.  Actually quite interesting.

Oopsie

The Food Network's dessert tip of the day:

No, I have no idea if its real.  It only has to be plausible to be funny.

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Contraception leads to more babies born out of wedlock.  The exact same way fire extinguishers cause fires.
Stephen Colbert

The War That Wasn't Still Isn't

    Crazy cool shades, bro                                                                                                 Photo from Speigle

There is a lot of talk about a war with Iran.  Faithful readers will recall that I said the best chance for a US strike passed when Tony Blair resigned.  But let's spare the tortuous history,  here are a few points that have mostly been consistent since this started.

• Israel cannot, with conventional weapons, knock out the Iranian atomic program. They simply can't deliver enough ordinance at that distance.  Their problems are most recently outlined here.

• Likewise, the US can do a LOT more damage than Israel, but things may be past the point where they could deliver a knock-out blow either.  At least with conventional weapons. 

• A nuclear attack on Iran is not an option.  The weapons would have to penetrate deeply into the ground before exploding in order to get at buried facilities.  This would result in massive radioactive fallout over Eastern Iran, Pakistan and India. With attendant casualties.

• No action by the US and/or Israel can bring about regime change in Tehran.  So the essential problem can't be solved by military means.

• No matter what, an Iranian bomb is not a threat to the US, Europe, China, Russia or India.  If the world can live with a nuclear Pakistan, then we can live with a nuclear Iran.

Besides these points, there are some new ones.

• Relations between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are terrible.  Neither likes or trusts the other.  Obama will go out on a limb for Israel, but he won't lift a finger to help Netanyahu.

• Jerusalem and Washington are talking the same language, but the words don't mean the same thing.  Obama doesn't want the Iranians to build a bomb.  Netanyahu doesn't want them to be able to build a bomb.  For him, the red line has already been crossed.  For Obama, the line won't be crossed for years, if ever.

• Lastly, the most pressing issue in the Mid-East is Syria.  Syria sits on just about every fault line in the region and is now in civil war.  It won't end well and the implications are both far reaching and difficult to predict.

When you add all these factors together, it looks like war will be harder than peace.  I don't expect an attack by Israel or the US anytime soon.

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They don't think it be like it is, but it do
Oscar Gamble

I just have to add this photo of the inimitable Mr. Gamble

A Noteable Valentines Day Post

 

I guess its worth a try.  Source: the Internets.

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A protest sign from the Colbert/Stewart rally in Washington last year.

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"Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?" asked Gingrich, "Because it saves them time" replied Bob Dole.

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Supernatural photo of an Elephant by Nick Brandt

Mexico

I went to Mexico with the kids in the 1st week of January.  Good food, good weather and this was the view from our room.  Nuff said.

Happy Birthday Muhammed Ali

He's 70 years old today, and still one of the most famous people on the planet.  People love him and respect him, but most don't remember when he used to matter.  And he mattered a lot.  This Esquire cover dates from his amazing refusal to serve after being drafted by the US Army during the Vietnam War.  He was stripped of his title, sent to jail and damned by almost everyone.  He was widely hated as a threat to all manner of tradition (i.e. keeping the niggers down).  The system tried to kick the shit out of him.  They lost.

Edit:  They didn't really lose.  He won.  And he won with style.

Sheeple

    I don't know what's going on here, and I don't want to find out.

21st Century Blues

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A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.
Henry Ford

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We cannot absolutely prove, that those are in error who tell us that society has reached a turning point, that we have seen our best days. But so said all who came before us, and with just as much apparent reason
Thomas B Macaulay

June 24, 1812

On this day in 1812, Napoleon crossed the Neimen and invaded Russia with 480,000 troops.  Things went well for the French, until winter.  The retreat was a horror and by the time Napoleon returned to the Neimen in early December, he had less than 25,000 troops left.  At least 300,000 died of cold, hunger or battle (the difference being mainly deserters).

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An alliance with the powerful is never to be trusted.
Fedrus

My Pix

Finished version of the Gehry building in Las Vegas, April, 2011
All of my photos are on Flickr.

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Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer.
W.C. Fields