(I’d intended to title this post “The Necessity of Regulation”, but then no-one would read it.)
President Obama, acting Presidential, recently forced through the long-delayed appointment of a director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, over the squeals of the Republicans.
For once again, buccaneer capitalism has refused to learn anything from the financial meltdown. Considering the devastation their bacchanalia has wrought (as a result of which many workers were downromneyed), you might think that, during an election season at least, Ayn-Rand/laissez-faire types would temporarily duck-and-cover, until voters are once again no longer paying attention and it’s back to buccaneering-as-usual. Yet much of the electorate, not exactly somnolent, not precisely sleep-walking, is yet still sufficiently mentally unfocussed to remain unclear about the importance of government regulation of business and finance. Capital requirements, insider trading, truth in lending, securitization -- we zone out. Teddy Roosevelt got it; today’s Republicans no longer do.
Now, the one thing that does jerk the public into some semblance of attention, is anything to do with women’s health -- women as victims -- especially when there is a kind of sex angle (in this case, boobs).
For weeks now, France has been in the throes of a
=> GIGANTIC BREAST SCANDAL <=
(Huh? says the electorate, suddenly aroused from slumber.) Namely, shoddily-made implants, filled with, I don’t know, uranium tailings or spent fuel rods or something. Oh plus they rupture. And you don't want to lean over the stove too close or they might explode. The French government (under buccaneer Sarkozy) was prodded to act as early as 2008, but only now is coming to its senses, after the defective products had spread across the English channel.
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~ Commercial break ~
We now return you to your regularly scheduled essay.
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The sex stuff gets your attention, but the real takeaway is this: As the planets orbit around the sun, so do businesses orbit around profit. And one way to increase profit is to cut costs. And to take risks beyond what anyone else deems prudent. And to lie about your shenanigans, from cock-crow to when the cows are back in the barn.
Well, I’m done. Anyone who cares can easily research the matter. And while you’re at it, check out Earthquakes + Ohio + fracking.
Laissez-faire capitalism: Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
[Note: If you enjoyed that punchy post, you might like this too:
And if you liked that, you’ll likely like this:
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