There is no structure, there is no system! It’s all about damage limitation!
19 September 2008
Events of the past week have cemented this view given that the mayhem has favoured the collaborators (insurers) – AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – over the aggravators (investment banks) – Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch.
The comical finale to this weeks episodes is the Federal Reserve's (Fed) inability to stand on firm ground, as those that are supposed to be safeguarding us from all the risky instruments (the insurers), have in fact caused more chaos when pressures have mounted than those that wrote the risky instruments in the first place (the investment banks) – and what is their punishment? The reward of being rescued.
This is evidenced as the Fed shoved Lehmans to one side, and asked them to cry quietly in the corner whilst greedy hedge funds poked fun at them, helping drive the bank into the realms of no return. In contrast the biggest problem childs (the insurers), were wrapped in a blanket of monetary warmth – This clearly highlights contradictory stances, meaning confusions are escalating, with many asking; what will the Fed get away with doing next?
The issue at large is the regulation, or clearly lack of, as the last decade has seen a global push for self-regulation, and those greedy during this bull run (i.e. evidently everybody from investment banks to those that backed their fanatical ideas – the insurers), took advantage and created this credit bubble.
Now we have reached this all new improved low - everyone sitting around twiddling their thumbs as to how this situation has spiralled out of control and what is yet to come? Goldmans? Morgan Stanley? - the question remains unclear as to who we should all be blaming? The naughty investment banks of course! But their parents (the regulators) gave them a loose reign to misbehave in the first place, and then sat back and watched it all ensue under their noses!
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