[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'H')ow sagacious of you. What are next weeks lottery numbers and daytime temps?

[Concerned]

The particular deposit rate is a minor side issue in the broader scale of things. For example total systemic change and major redistribution of wealth and heavily taxing breeding. Globally of course.

From Free Internet Press

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Yet finance is not like any other business. When a bank makes a mistake, the ramifications for the rest of the financial and economic system are so severe that it has to be bailed out - witness Britain's Northern Rock. Because of this truth, financiers have organized themselves so that actual or potential losses are picked up by somebody else - if not their clients, then the state - while profits are kept to themselves. An industry that socializes losses while privatizing profit, and that has the capacity to create booms and busts alike, has to be as closely regulated as any utility.

I was reminded of the system's proclivities by a consultant friend who was hired to arbitrate over a performance bonus between a hedge fund and one of its asset managers. The individual in question was paid a base salary of some $100,000, but the investment funds he managed had done well over 2007, rising in value by more than $500 million. His bonus was $206 million and he felt that to conform to industry norms, his bonus should be nearer $250 million - the cause of the dispute.

What, I asked, would happen in 2008 if the assets he managed fell in value? He would get paid his base salary and no bonus came the reply. And would he be required to repay any of the $250 million he had pocketed this year? Of course not.

This is the one-way, short-term bet that is endemic in the way the financial services industry rewards itself and which incentivizes recklessness

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', ' ')Considering that in a real estate crash a home can drop 40% + real estate agent fees + the possibility the owner will go psycho in a foreclose...the only way to lend responsibly (aka cover your ass) would be for a bank to demand a 50% down payment.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')et finance is not like any other business. When a bank makes a mistake, the ramifications for the rest of the financial and economic system are so severe that it has to be bailed out - witness Britain's Northern Rock. Because of this truth, financiers have organized themselves so that actual or potential losses are picked up by somebody else - if not their clients, then the state - while profits are kept to themselves. An industry that socializes losses while privatizing profit, and that has the capacity to create booms and busts alike, has to be as closely regulated as any utility.

[MrBill]

Anytime someone suggests interest free loans - free money - and tries to tie that to sensible monetary or fiscal policies to cure the ills of our current financial system then I need not read any further except perhaps to amuse myself.

Real interest rates are the cost of money. Without any cost attached to money it would be freely available to anyone and everyone in unlimited amounts. I would not suggest a perpetual, zero coupon bond as a very wise investment. Think about it? Duh! ; - )

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'A')nytime someone suggests interest free loans - free money - and tries to tie that to sensible monetary or fiscal policies to cure the ills of our current financial system then I need not read any further except perhaps to amuse myself.
--snip-- I would not suggest a perpetual, zero coupon bond as a very wise investment. Think about it? Duh!

[MrBill]

So what you're talking about is no lending, ever, period. Because if I have money. The $100 and you do not. Then I will spend that money to acquire a real, physical asset that generates a return on my investment be it land or something else like financing trade in the form of profit sharing. But I sure as Hell am not going to lend it to you for zero interest. Good luck with that, Concerned! I cannot think of a better idea for concentrating money and power in the hands of the existing rich? Any other hair-brained ideas for my amusement? ; - )

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', 't')he world isn't going to blow up on schedule 5 years from now. There's still a potential for profit right now!

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'S')o what you're talking about is no lending, ever, period. Because if I have money. The $100 and you do not. Then I will spend that money to acquire a real, physical asset that generates a return on my investment be it land or something else like financing trade in the form of profit sharing. But I sure as Hell am not going to lend it to you for zero interest. Good luck with that, Concerned! I cannot think of a better idea for concentrating money and power in the hands of the existing rich? Any other hair-brained ideas for my amusement? ; - )

[MrBill]

Yes, reading your posts I cannot help but think of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and how the masses try to grab at a shrinking economic pie! Everyone thinking that they are going to confiscate the assets of those better off than them without thinking about those that covet their assets. Thankfully, you will never be in a position of power or influence, so as you say, 'the point is moot!' See you on the other side of peak, Concerned! ; - )

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', ' ')Any other hair-brained ideas for my amusement? ; - )

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'Y')es, reading your posts I cannot help but think of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and how the masses try to grab at a shrinking economic pie! --snip-- See you on the other side of peak, Concerned! ; - )

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'Y')es, reading your posts I cannot help but think of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and how the masses try to grab at a shrinking economic pie! Everyone thinking that they are going to confiscate the assets of those better off than them without thinking about those that covet their assets. Thankfully, you will never be in a position of power or influence, so as you say, 'the point is moot!' See you on the other side of peak, Concerned! ; - )

[MrBill]

Concerned wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')lthough your hallucination may be that you are doing something really, incredibly important and saving the world.

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'N')o delusions here! --snip-- As plain as it is simple!

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'N')o no delusions MrBill you're just full of gooey goodness for the community and greater good. You're like Mother Theresa in a Navy Blue pin stripe suit.

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'Y')es, and through Rotary International, Habitat for Humanity, Ducks Unlimited and other volunteer organizations we can magnify the financial and volunteer impact of those efforts --snip-- Cheers my friend. I would like to argue all day with you, but I must get back to work here! Thanks.

[MrBill]

Yes, I can imagine I am not the most popular poster on peak oil dot com? But I would be more nervous if everyone started to agree with me. I like the minority position quite fine. So long as the markets vindicate me once in a while.

This is not a popularity contest. There are no right answers to resource depletion and post peak oil in particular, but there are a lot of wrong solutions that would leave us worse off than doing nothing!

A diversity of opinion is good here. It avoids Group Think. However, I am not looking to convert anyone or even to preach to the converted. So long as I can act on my own ideas - great. It is my risk and mine alone! ; - )

[aflurry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'A')llow the person to go bankrupt and that individual not allow to enter into loan contracts for the next five years. The institution that created that irresponsible debt must write it off.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('aflurry', ']')provided they haven't already sold the bad debt off to foreign investors with a bow on it. silly, the people who create the debt don't own the debt anymore. that's so your grandfather's capitalism.