Dear Friends,
It seems to me that to call for world regulation of banks, as Obama and Gordon Brown have, opens Pandora’s Box. Once the UN or other such governing agency gets it’s claws into the banking industry… the bribes, graft and kick backs will flow like a mighty river. A cataract capable of filling the wheels of civilization with debris.
Everyone knows that people are not good police of themselves. Else why spend the money on a judiciary or even traffic police. They would be completely redundant. But we do need police and we do need a judiciary. Mankind, as Carneades said, Imposed a set of laws and moors on itself out of necessity. Because people, being like animals, each seeking his or her own good, make true justice impossible. For a man to be truly just he must do damage to his own self interest…
So when taken to it’s logical conclusion if people in general are poor police of themselves…And the Elite are people. Then doesn’t it follow that the Elite, (Politicians who hold office and regulators), are poor police of themselves as well? But they have no real monitor. The fact that they effectively are not policed at all escapes most people.
Occasionally a politician is caught at some felony. There is a firestorm of media and then… the politician usually keeps his or her job. In fact, often they are given a raise and bonus. Tim Giethner, Charlie Rangel and taxes come to mind, this tax season. There are no negative consequences for politicians in the US who are caught doing something the average citizen would go to jail for. What are the incentives here?
Take it to a higher level… The UN. Totally un policed. No actual or proposed oversight. The Oil for food fiasco would have sent business men to jail for years and years. Not one corrupt UN executive or bureaucrat even lost their job.
Today bank coordination is done by the G 20 nations. But what do you think will happen if the utterly corrupt UN bureaucrats get the ability to regulate every bank in the world? Knowing that even if they are caught red handed in some criminal enterprise they won’t even loose their job? I’m thinking… Papa Smurf is wise enough to know the answer.
How would your company treat you if you were siphoning funds from a humanitarian effort of your companies into your own pockets. And in doing so you enabled a rival company to get information about your company. Most businesses would frown on this type of behavior. The UN has no problem. I wonder how many Oil For Foods are going on right now? And how many have gone on that we will never know about? This is an example of an agent not acting on behalf of the principle.
The answer to the principle agent dilemma, as it pertains to government, is the NUMA . The NUMA would set a group of Elite against the other group of Elite. As Madison said in the Federalist Papers, faction must be pitted against faction. He likened liberty to faction as air to fire. But he didn’t advocate removing liberty (air) to eradicate faction (fire). He advocated that to keep faction weak, keep them small and set them against each other. Like starting backfires. The NUMA is a vehicle to go there. To set the Elite in the NUMA against the Elite that make our law, regulate our industries, and police our behavior, would force all the Elite to follow the laws… as they are written.
Forcing the Elite to follow the laws as we are forced to do would be a great incentive for them to read some of what they are enacting. Perhaps if they read some of what they vote on they might not pass such foolish laws. Laws that they have no fear of being held to. Ignorance is no excuse under the law, (unless you write law, regulate law or adjudicate law).
Today, the more corrupt you prove yourself to be the more banks you get to regulate… a win win.
