April 04, 2009

Cowboys

G20 resolution targets financial market 'cowboys' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

I've always thought of myself as a bit of a rebel, if not quite a "cowboy". But I've never been able to turn that anti-social streak into a profitable asset, because I'm bound by a set of stupid old-fashioned principles.

I see now that this was my major weakness. To be both unprincipled AND anti-social is to court wealth and fame on an undreamed-of scale.

But enough about me. Is this change we can believe in?

But in the final word on the long-fought battle for tighter regulation, the end result is non-binding guidelines on pay, no call for legislative change, and support for a shareholder vote on executive salaries.


You know, financial markets are the ultimate confidence trick. Money itself is really just a confidence trick. If I tell you this stone is worth $100 and you go trade it with someone else who believes it's worth $100, that's "currency".

Nobody is changing that system, they are just re-inflating the bubble of belief with trillions more dollars.

Will we fall for it again? Probably. Those pretty stones are just so shiny, aren't they.

No comments:

Pages

Blog Archive