Let Banks Fail Is Iceland Mantra as 2% Joblessness in Sight

[dreamnightwind]

14. The banks are to blame

They literally wrote the laws deregulating their industry. Using campaign donations as well as regulatory capture and getting their pet politicians to defund the little regulatory infrastructure that still remains, they very actively work to prevent reforms from being enacted.

I have no interest in defending the politicians who work for them, but let's be clear about who the boss is here. It isn't your nickle and dime congressperson, and it's not even your Senator, who is busy spending roughly 2/3 of his/her work hours phoning corporations asking for donations. It's the donors. They "invest" in our reps, and they get a helluva return on those investments too.

The congress-critters are small-time, and they come and go, often between capital hill and the industries they are supposed to oversee. But the oligarchs remain, calling the shots from their highly secure and opulent estates.

An alternative thesis (which I reject) would be that the banks are just lucky to have a government that likes them so much.