[Mind's Eye] Re: Trillions?

The big banks and Wall Street backed Obama.

On Sep 8, 7:45 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The amount of money paid to bankers by themselves over the last five
> years is $2.2 trillion.  Now wouldn't that be a handy sum to pay down
> the deficit?  When Tea Party smucks talk about tax they don't include
> anything like this.  This is payment for making losses, running at
> 2.2. trillion divided by 300 million per US citizen.
> About $733 per capita.  This just on what they claim as earnings from
> loss making we have to cover.  $146 per person a year.
>
> The $2.2 trillion is publicly quoted.  I feel I must have the sum
> wrong.  Incidentally, the banksters are lobbying for a law to keep
> their earnings secret.  Have I got the noughts wrong?  I'm assuming a
> billion at a thousand million, and a trillion at a thousand billion.
>
> 2.2 divided by three is about .733.  A billion is 10 to the power of
> 6.  A trillion is 10 to the power of 9.  So the sum is .733 times a
> 1000.
>
> In the UK this would be a fifth of my local taxes per year (I don't
> have the bankster figures for the UK).- this pays for a load of
> policing, education, waste collection, road work and so on, though
> would pay for only 3 nights in the pub a year.  I have no idea what I
> get back for this bankster tax - and it seems as though this is  just
> a system I don't use much and a pile of their debts.
>
> The real sum could be spreadsheeted to demonstrate whether bankstering
> actually provides me with a net gain or loss and we should have such a
> spreadsheet available for public scrutiny.  I can say, qua economist,
> that this is a complex task, but doable.  Getting the real amounts of
> bonus and losses tp put in remains difficult - but we should be able
> to assess the rich as a tax on the rest of us.
>
> I only drop the above 'sum' in as an exemplar - the proper equation
> would be complicated - but that bit would be easier than getting the
> simple amounts that should be available to work with.  The spreadsheet
> could be built without the figures and in a democracy we should have
> this.
>
> On Sep 8, 12:03 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Brilliant little video Gabby.  These days it looks like a descriptor
> > of what's happened to us all.
>
> > One thing going on amongst the trillions is a variation on old
> > insurance rackets in which the insurer is nowhere to be found when a
> > claim is put in.  This involves packaging an selling dud investments
> > that will fail and placing insurance several times over on the
> > failure.  In the old days one might buy some expensive cargo, put that
> > in a sound ship  but claim it went in one lacking tar that gets sunk
> > with all hands, thus getting the insurance and profit on the real
> > journey.  If one thinks of carousel fraud where villains get paid by
> > tax authorities it's hard to believe banks have much clue on
> > security.  The question is where all the toxic assets end up and what
> > they total up to.  AIG was an obvious answer, but we seem unwilling to
> > investigate the full nature of the scam/s.
>
> > On Sep 5, 5:08 pm, ornamentalmind <ornsmindseyes...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > "…John Maynard Keynes said of it: "In my opinion it is a grand
> > > book...Morally and philosophically I find myself in agreement with
> > > virtually the whole of it: and not only in agreement with it, but in
> > > deeply moved agreement." Having said that, Keynes did not think
> > > Hayek's philosophy was of practical use; this was explained later in
> > > the same letter, through the following comment: "What we need
> > > therefore, in my opinion, is not a change in our economic programmes,
> > > which would only lead in practice to disillusion with the results of
> > > your philosophy; but perhaps even the contrary, namely, an enlargement
> > > of them. Your greatest danger is the probable practical failure of the
> > > application of your philosophy in the United States." George Orwell
> > > responded with both praise and criticism, stating, "in the negative
> > > part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It
> > > cannot be said too often — at any rate, it is not being said nearly
> > > often enough — that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on
> > > the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the
> > > Spanish Inquisitors never dreamt of." Yet he also warned, "[A] return
> > > to 'free' competition means for the great mass of people a tyranny
> > > probably worse, because more irresponsible, than that of the state."
> > > …" -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom#Contemporary_commentary
> > > "…In his review (collected in The Present as History, 1953) Marxist
> > > economist Paul Sweezy joked that Hayek would have you believe that if
> > > there was an over-production of baby carriages, the central planners
> > > would then order the population to have more babies instead of simply
> > > warehousing the temporary excess of carriages and decreasing
> > > production for next year. The cybernetic arguments of Stafford Beer in
> > > his 1974 CBC Massey Lectures, Designing Freedom—that intelligent
> > > adaptive planning can increase freedom—are of interest in this regard,
> > > as is the technical work of Herbert Simon and Albert Ando on the
> > > dynamics of hierarchical nearly decomposable systems in economics—
> > > namely, that everything in such a system is not tightly coupled to
> > > everything else.…"
> > > "…More recently, Hayek's support of free market institutions has been
> > > challenged on a new front: the free market economy that he advocated
> > > is designed for an infinite planet, says Eric Zencey in "The Other
> > > Road to Serfdom," and when it runs into physical limits (as any
> > > growing system must), the result is a need for centralized planning to
> > > mediate the problematic interface of economy and nature. "Planning is
> > > planning, whether it's done to minimize poverty and injustice, as
> > > socialists were advocating then, or to preserve the minimum flow of
> > > ecosystem services that civilization requires, as we are finding
> > > increasingly necessary today."..." -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom#Criticism
>
> > > More. -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom#Libertarian.2FConser...
>
> > > It is refreshing to see propaganda in such a nice and assimilatable
> > > package! Cartoons can give us a world which appears to be reality
> > > without any of the restraints thereof.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nEgjwfX6s8http://www.youtube.com/watc...
>
> > > Yes, any particular ideology one wishes to espouse can be put to film
> > > and promulgated. And this is a serious topic. In any analysis some set
> > > of assumptions are made. Here, one might make human life a need and
> > > place it high on the list of that which must remain. In fact, most do…
> > > since the analysis is being done by a human being and thus one who is
> > > alive. Even though Lee may disagree, yes, most place life as being
> > > sacrosanct. Beyond that, how to retain life is based upon personal
> > > experiences and passions. So, any such ideology will be founded upon
> > > such subjectivity. How else could it be? The obverse would be a sort
> > > of cult of death with the goal of eradicating all life.
>
> > > So, what we are left with is a dialectic. And, as much as I too tend
> > > to lean towards one side or the other, such ideologies don't seem to
> > > be the 'answer' do they?
>
> > > On Sep 5, 4:46 am, gabbydott <gabbyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkz9AQhQFNY
>
> > > > On Mon, Sep 5, 2011 at 4:27 AM, ornamentalmind
> > > > <ornsmindseyes...@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
> > > > > Neil mentioned insurance... something that is as close to the
> > > > > protection racket as possible.
>
> > > > > Here in the States, we have many examples but one who stands out is
> > > > > William McGuire. His stock option of over a billion dollars (yes,
> > > > > billion with a 'b'), shows what happens when people who purchase
> > > > > insurance end up not getting anything for their money. That and the
> > > > > over 30% stock profits show what a sham the private sector is when it
> > > > > comes to the health racket. Many countries have laws denying any
> > > > > profit for such situations. Here, such crimes are seen as 'good'...a
> > > > > shining example of capitalism. Talk about serfdom!
>
> > > > >http://www.startribune.com/business/11093081.html
> > > > >http://www.forbes.com/static/pvp2005/LIRRI3M.html
>
> > > > >http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1848501_18...
>
> > > > > On Sep 4, 2:11 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > I'm fairy convinced on a politburo of the rich -a kind of shadow big
> > > > > > government.  I like it no more than any other big government.  I don't
> > > > > > think the threat is 'socialism' but rather serfdom.  I regard anything
> > > > > > I have to pay to retailing or excess profit as tax and anything I have
> > > > > > to pay to capital based on accumulated wealth as a toll.  I'm not
> > > > > > concerned whether the government or private sector taxes me, but my
> > > > > > control over it.  For instance, I regard anything beyond a basic
> > > > > > haircut as a tax, but can easily avoid anything other than a short
> > > > > > back and sides.
>
> > > > > > If we lived in a commune, those of us getting home with sore backs
> > > > > > after a day of toil might well object to other members who claimed
> > > > > > their job was to sit around all day playing Monopoly.  This is much
> > > > > > how I regard the banksters - beyond the primitive stuff we need.  The
> > > > > > trillions swilling about that Orn raises represent a form of Monopoly
> > > > > > played with our currency.
>
> > > > > > Around the West you can see that wages have ceased to rise and debt
> > > > > > increasing since around 1965 - the previous examples are in gold
> > > > > > rushes and the Depression.  China is no different in the last 20
> > > > > > years.  The figures
>
> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -