Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Oh come now.
Listening to some asshole from the SEC interviewed on C-Span. Asshole just said "The investment industry is the most highly regulated in the US, second only to the nuclear power industry."
Pure reagent-quality ratshit.
The American nuclear power industry has shown what happens with strong and competent regulation. When the worst-case accident happened at Three Mile Island, no radioactivity escaped, nobody was killed.
You can't prevent every accident, but NRC regs guaranteed that the containment structure was strong enough to avoid deaths when the accident came.
The SEC operates more like Soviet nuclear power regulators. Bribes and loyalty matter more than rules and engineering. When the worst-case accident happened at Chernobyl, there was nothing to contain it. Tens of thousands died.
If investment banking were really regulated to NRC standards, Bernie Madoff would have been detected and stopped when his first customer reported something suspicious. The (figurative) containment structure would have prevented further losses. And the galactic-scale crimes and robberies committed by AIG would not have been allowed to start. Anyone with the tiniest grasp of arithmetic and common sense could tell that a "credit default swap" was a monstrous fraud. It was called a "swap" to escape state insurance regulations. What more do you need to know, for Christ's sweet sake?????????
If Obama were serious about fixing this mess, he would fire the entire SEC and start over. Replace the staff with randomly chosen unemployed blue-collar workers. Cooks, beauticians, janitors. They won't be fooled by a con-man like Madoff. ¶ 6:54 AM
Pure reagent-quality ratshit.
The American nuclear power industry has shown what happens with strong and competent regulation. When the worst-case accident happened at Three Mile Island, no radioactivity escaped, nobody was killed.
You can't prevent every accident, but NRC regs guaranteed that the containment structure was strong enough to avoid deaths when the accident came.
The SEC operates more like Soviet nuclear power regulators. Bribes and loyalty matter more than rules and engineering. When the worst-case accident happened at Chernobyl, there was nothing to contain it. Tens of thousands died.
If investment banking were really regulated to NRC standards, Bernie Madoff would have been detected and stopped when his first customer reported something suspicious. The (figurative) containment structure would have prevented further losses. And the galactic-scale crimes and robberies committed by AIG would not have been allowed to start. Anyone with the tiniest grasp of arithmetic and common sense could tell that a "credit default swap" was a monstrous fraud. It was called a "swap" to escape state insurance regulations. What more do you need to know, for Christ's sweet sake?????????
If Obama were serious about fixing this mess, he would fire the entire SEC and start over. Replace the staff with randomly chosen unemployed blue-collar workers. Cooks, beauticians, janitors. They won't be fooled by a con-man like Madoff. ¶ 6:54 AM
