Iceland, a country that wants to punish the bankers responsible for the crisis

[xring]

It isn't an inaccurate statement, it's what started it, and will start it again. The part in your statement is simply the automatic reaction of the investment bankers and mortgage writers to the first statement. If in the position, would you not buy up federally guaranteed loans? It's automatic profit, that's federally backed. Millions of loans all guaranteed to pay out. It's a big banker's wet dream. The 2 events are not mutually exclusive and the second couldn't have happened without the first.

Do I like it? No, but I blame the government for creating that environment far more than I blame a private capitalist for leveraging their abilities to profit from it.

I see your point. Could you expound a little on what "leveraging you abilities" means. The investment banks knew the debt derivitives they were toxic as evidenced by the fact that they were betting against them at the same time they were selling them to clients. Legitimate hedges they say. To me the heart of capitalism is that you are rewarded for producing value and you fail if you do not. The investment banks sold a product that was toxic but they have not failed. Perhaps a socialist agenda was involved in the lax requirments of freddie and fanny. But that has ended. What is ongoing is socialism extended to the investment banks as they continue to gamble with leverages of 30 to 40 x, and not have to pay the price when the dice comes up snake eyes. If you are using 40x leverage a 3% loss means you are insolvent The most recent example is lieborgate that they were manipulating for profit via, wait for it, derivitives. The libor rate is supposedly sancrasact, it determines the interest rate paid by basicly on every loan originated as well as being a primary indicator of risk but here they were manipulating it having a grand old time - bottle of bollinger tonight at my place old chap. What is the true motivation of the goverment where they produce a environment where rewards are exponential and all risk is born by the taxpayer? answer that and ill buy you a cup of joe

[XC700116]

I see your point. Could you expound a little on what "leveraging you abilities" means. The investment banks knew the debt derivitives they were toxic as evidenced by the fact that they were betting against them at the same time they were selling them to clients. Legitimate hedges they say. To me the heart of capitalism is that you are rewarded for producing value and you fail if you do not. The investment banks sold a product that was toxic but they have not failed. Perhaps a socialist agenda was involved in the lax requirments of freddie and fanny. But that has ended. What is ongoing is socialism extended to the investment banks as they continue to gamble with leverages of 30 to 40 x, and not have to pay the price when the dice comes up snake eyes. If you are using 40x leverage a 3% loss means you are insolvent The most recent example is lieborgate that they were manipulating for profit via, wait for it, derivitives. The libor rate is supposedly sancrasact, it determines the interest rate paid by basicly on every loan originated as well as being a primary indicator of risk but here they were manipulating it having a grand old time - bottle of bollinger tonight at my place old chap. What is the true motivation of the goverment where they produce a environment where rewards are exponential and all risk is born by the taxpayer? answer that and ill buy you a cup of joe

Oh I wholly agree with you there where/are a pile of scamming fawkers in the upper echelon of banking and investments that did a LOT of shady though "legal" stunts that screwed the system, and taxpayers. That said IMO it all begins at the point where the federal govt decided to yet again play charity with the tax payer's dollar to win votes. As to the motivation......., I'm stuck somewhere between full on conspiracy and complete idiocy on the behalf of the bleeding hearts that pushed this crap.

I honestly don't think those that started it were smart enough to foresee the end result. They are completely baffled regularly by the most mundane things, however I think many of those that backed it saw the opportunity to profit off it in such a fashion and therefore helped push or at the very least stood completely out of the way. Meanwhile the same people as always really got screwed, and I'm not talking about those that were too stupid to realize they could never have a chance to pay back the loan they were signing. I'm talking about you and I, the taxpayer.

Then of course we had to later bail out the banks when it all tumbled.......................