Regulation: You’re the Sucker in This Game

“If, after the first twenty minutes, you don’t know who the sucker at the table is, it’s you.”  ~David Levien and Brian Koppelman, Rounders

Leave a pile of cash on the sidewalk. Do you expect the money to be there years later? 

Reckless monetary policy essentially dumped piles of cash on the sidewalk. Even honest businessmen are tempted to grab some when they see the pile dwindling and no one being held accountable. Most of us didn’t grab a handful because we are too ethical…or was it because no one told us where the cash pile was?

What happens when the sidewalk cash disappears? Do you think licensing, bonding, and regulating everyone that uses sidewalks is the answer? What a ridiculous solution! It’s amazing that every egghead that spews such idiocy isn’t laughed out of the public eye. A blue ribbon panel of know-it-all regulators cannot change human nature. The commonsense solution: stop leaving money on the sidewalk.

In 2002, Robert Blumen summed up the effect of the activities of Fannie and Freddie on the housing market and the systemic risk and foresaw a coming bailout. He was not alone in predicting the crisis and identifying it’s cause before it happened [accurate public predictions before the crisis]. Those people were silenced through ridicule and scorn.

The U.S. Economy is a game, and that game is rigged. First came the loose money supply, which was dumped into the housing market. Of course you knew this and wisely invested in high return mortgage backed securities, right? Yeah, me too… most of us missed that government sanctioned money grab. Not to worry, there were plenty of Goldman Sachs, Wall Street, and government insiders that capitalized on the windfall.

What about the risk you ask? Forget about it, those that created the game can manipulate the best government their money can buy to bail them out. Market research indicates the suckers (me and you) will fall in lock step when the phrase “economic collapse” is thrown about freely. Trillions in wealth has disappeared (from me and you), but the priviledged few that engineered the game have retained their wealth. Henry Paulson amassed a fortune estimated around $700 million while running Goldman Sachs, he kept every penny and even cashed out tax-free by becoming the Treasury Secretary. Henry Paulson is one of the many insiders that is both Wall Street and government. It’s probably a much better investment to become the government instead of buying it.

So now your thinking: “Let’s regulate them!” Of course you’re thinking that, we all are. The idea has been repeatedly broadcast by every major media outlet in the world. Dr. Herbert Krugman’s effective frequency (repetition of an idea) ensures that regulation is always our first thought, often our only thought. The people that engineered the crisis have been involved in every step, sat at every policy council, and even directed the Fed response. This con has been performed in the glare of the public spotlight. Luckily for them, we are suckers – plus those guys are kinda boring.

The insiders are pushing regulation. Of course they are, regulation protects the insiders from competition (try to start a banking home business). Regulation centralizes the power, the resources, and the money. It’s much easier to buy political power when it’s all concentrated in one place. Regulation didn’t protect you from the monetary policy that lead to the mortgage-backed-securities-game that siphoned $50,000 in lost wealth from every Family in America. According to numbers issued by the Federal Reserve: families’ median net worth fell almost 40% between 2007 and 2010. The suckers always foot the bill (this last point was not mentioned in the Fed report).

Who caused the crisis? Fat cats and government. Who have we given the authority to fix the problem? Fat cats and government. Why? Because they told us to.

Wait a minute, let’s give reason a try. Finance is the most heavily regulated industry in the world, and pretty much always has been. Every collapse, bubble, hiccup, con, and fraud that comes out of the world of finance has led to more and more regulation. Each time government fails, they are rewarded with more money and more power.

So what should we do? I don’t know, I doubt anyone knows – even if they say otherwise. There’s just one obvious next step: ignore what the insiders and their government tells us to do. The federal government appears to be bought and paid for by special interests.

Reverse the flow of wealth and power back to the people. An unregulated economy and finance sector is sure to steal from people now and then – but when they do, it will be for hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of dollars. The heavily regulated finance sector stole TRILLIONS from us. It wasn’t the first time, it won’t be the last – as long as we continue to do what we’re told.