Teetering on the brink of the new Depression

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nigelswift N
nigelswift Sep 19, 2008 09:04:49
Replying to Wychburygirl2

Wychburygirl2 wrote:
I'm with you on the having not an iota of sympathy for the financers. And as you point out its the people at the lower end of the food chainer who will bear the biggest brunt.

They have been wreckless and greedy. Their homes should be confiscated and the proceeds of the sale go to government agencies or charities who help the needy and homeless.

I am sick of the garbage that the media spiels out about how tragic it is for them.

That's so simple and so true.

We the taxpayer have just shelled out $30 billion to support the system, whereas in 2005 alone -
"In London, 3,000 in line for £1 million bonus"
"London financial firms will raise annual bonuses by 16 percent to £7.5 billion after investment banks including Goldman Sachs Group posted record earnings in 2005."

H handofdave
handofdave Sep 19, 2008 10:07:22
Replying to nigelswift

It's not just the obscene bonuses, it's the 'little' things too, like the onerous, ever-mounting fees, the relaxing of usury restraints, the penalties, etc.

My bank upped their fee for overdrafts to 28 dollars per instance this summer. When I asked why the arbitrary hike, the bank officer gave me this incredibly self-serving and nakedly opportunistic response (I'm paraphrasing); "Because all the other banks do it". And then she tells me that this is fair, because 'The bank is using it's money to cover your debt'... but of course, it's not really, it's floating you the $3.04 for a day, then taking that out plus the $28 on the next deposit. So what it really is is a kind of legal loan sharking... probably worse rates than the mob.

What really pisses me off is that the 'Financial Services industry' (industry?) really seems to think that it's the backbone of our economy. Seriously. Not the workers- the farmers, the machinists, etc... but the guys shuffling fake money around the world, usually into their own pockets, and finding ever-more ways to justify a bigger take.