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Six Years On

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“The ideas of economists, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.”
– John Maynard Keynes

Six years ago on Wednesday this humble blog was started.  It’s been here MWF ever since, without a single break.  Typically, the anniversary post is a chance to talk about where Barataria has been over the past so many years and brag up the stats a bit.  But that’s not all that important.  What is important is that this blog has covered a momentous time in the economy and life and general with a singular perspective – there are some really wild things going on that I don’t understand, but we can talk about them and maybe work out something together.  It turns out that this perspective is far closer to what the “experts” have experienced than we thought.  And it’s been one Hell of a ride to hang onto.

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What, Nothing’s Wrong Here …

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Another day, another bank in trouble.  It might be easy to do little more than roll your eyes at the news that Standard Chartered of the UK is caught in a scandal, except this one is very different for many reasons.  To start with, the allegation is that they were the launderer in chief for the nation of Iran over a period of at least a decade, helping them hide $250B in money transfers around sanctions.  This is also one of the largest banks in the world, with total assets around $600B and operations around the globe.

But where this gets especially interesting is through the still developing role of the firm Deloitte & Touche.  They are one of the “Big Four” auditing firms that has been in the crosshairs of a large number of people convinced that the lack of truly independent assessment is one of the main problems in the teetering financial industry.  This scandal, different as it is, could be the one that coalesces a diverse group of detractors into a movement – even though auditing had very little to do with it directly.

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Catch a Break

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It’s been the kind of week you swim through.  The thick languid air drags back as if yesterday was a long time ago and tomorrow might never come.  It’s not a day to get much work done, but we all slog through.

Daze like this I admit I go back through the Barataria archives to see if there’s anything that needs updating.  Starting from July of 2011, however, it’s positively depressing.  Employment is still lagging and the economy has not done anything new.  At least funding is being secured to restore the old Rathskeller at the Schmidt Brewery on West Seventh – we locals are moving forward with heart and arm and brain.  But at the big level, things are simply languishing as if summer never ended.

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Taxing Returns

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Why hasn’t Mitt Romney released more than one year of tax returns? “The cost of not releasing the returns are clear,” said conservative columnist George Will, on ABC’s “This Week.” “Therefore, he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.”  Will has a reputation for being particularly honest when his side is screwing up, but he’s far from alone in his assessment.  It’s far more damning when Bill Kristol weighs in – “He should release the tax returns tomorrow. It’s crazy,” Kristol said on “Fox News Sunday.” “You gotta release six, eight, 10 years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two.”

Why are the conservative pundits hitting this so hard?  What’s at stake here is not just Romney’s candidacy or even the whole Republican ticket that wants to keep the US House.  There is a core myth that has driven Republican rhetoric for decades based on a concept of “fairness” that could come crashing down if this plays out badly – and the pundits know it.

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Scurry from the Light?

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When the lights are flipped on, tradition has it that the cockroaches that feast on the night quickly scurry for the darkness.  Those of us from more Caribbean climates know that the really big Palmetto bugs often keep going on about their roachy business as if light and dark mean nothing to them.  But you have to expect that in languid, humid air better suited for piracy and general disregard for “authority”.

Exactly what climate does the financial world operate in?  We may soon find out.  But there are many reasons to believe JP Morgan, the investment bank, already operates more like Captain Morgan, the pirate.  And they are apparently far from alone.

Just as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is working to flip the switch, a survey has come out suggesting that it may well not make much immediate difference.  Then again, it does help to know that what you have are, in fact, roaches.

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