Sunday 25 October 2015

not too big to jail

In what’s just an opening salvo to demonstrate (and actually far from the first prosecution of this kind)that no behaviour, no matter how consequential and unconscionable, is above the law, Iceland is sentencing two dozen bankers and financial managers whose greed and collusion resulted in the devastating 2008 economic meltdown of the country. This meting out of punishment is a necessary but bold step, especially compared to the inaction and forgiveness on the part of the US government who allowed its bankers, Masters of the Universe, to precipitate the global Recession in the first place—and of many other countries where immunity has been extended rather magnanimously. Managing other people’s money is just the same as overseeing any other utility, and probably less skilled, and such plumbers and locksmiths (not to insult those professions by comparison, who are much better champions in our hour of need) should not be compensated nor protected differently.