Dear Friends,
It seems to me that with the economy in shambles and the banking sector a ruin, the SEC would at least have the common sense to come out and reassure the American people that the investment sector is healthy and the Madoff issue is an aberration.
But I haven’t heard a single word of reassurance from the SEC. They are big on excuses but they haven’t said that there are not more like Madoff out there. Every investor in the USA and the world that is invested in the USA now has better reason to fear. How many more $54,000,000,000.00 ponzy schemes are waiting to be discovered?
A political philosopher once said, what makes a king a king is simply public opinion. In other words if the world was to wake up and forget the king is the king he would no longer be king. The apparatus of the crown would evaporate. So another way to look at it is that what makes a recession is simply public opinion. The means to fully employ the workforce is at hand. The minerals are still in the ground. The people are still in need of employment and goods. The machinery of civilization is still functional and the knowledge base is still available to run it. The only thing in the way is public opinion.
What affects public opinion better than an old fashioned scandal? This new slap in the face of the investor only serves to further diminish public opinion. Leading to a deepening of the recession. It is the job of the SEC not only to find and punish this behavior but to assure the investing public that the system is fair and safe.
It appears that the SEC has dropped the ball on all three fronts. If a private firm were to be guilty or simply look this guilty, the hew and cry for heads to roll would be deafening. Lets listen to the roar of indignation leading to heads at the SEC rolling. Hopefully the crickets won’t be too loud to hear it.
By the way, I have yet to hear about anyone in the unbiased media asking about the House Banking and Finance Oversight Committee’s dropping the ball in the banking scandal. Let alone anyone asking for an investigation. (Other than I). I guess the crickets cacophony drowned out that roar…
