Some Hopeful Signs

The first bit of good news comes from Italy. In Milan, authorities have seized the assets of several large banks who sold fraudulent derivatives to the city. This will be an important precedent in obtaining justice for many local governments and non-profits world-wide who were subject to a wide variety of fleecings at the hands of unctuous bankers.

The next bit comes from the U.S. Senate, where the Banking Committee comes closer to holding hearings on the Paulson-Bernanke-Lewis affair. This is a bit of 'he said - she said' drama that everyone should be looking forward to. The matter is quite serious for them as at least one in the group is probably going to end up in prison, and with their pants sued off. We seriously hope the drowsy Senate will start doing their jobs again and make the U.S. a nation of laws and not of strongmen.

Finally, we are heartened by news from Belgium, where normally sleepy shareholders showed some righteous indignation at the Board of Directors of Fortis. Throwing shoes is probably too good for the greedy, incompetent banksters who have done so much damage.

Now that shock and denial over losses are past, perhaps some healthy anger will be directed at deserving culprits. More importantly, it looks like legal reform may be in the works as well. Ironically, much of the recent financial damage resulted from recent undoing reforms of earlier eras. Perhaps a future of low- or no economic growth will have a plus: the cycle of reform and 'liberalising innovation' will come to an end along with the myth of growth.