Jeffrey Sachs: World is Drowning in Corporate fraud

[marmar]

via CommonDreams:



Published on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 by Project Syndicate
World is Drowning in Corporate fraud

by Jeffrey Sachs


NEW YORK – The world is drowning in corporate fraud, and the problems are probably greatest in rich countries — those with supposedly “good governance.” Poor-country governments probably accept more bribes and commit more offenses, but it is rich countries that host the global companies that carry out the largest offenses. Money talks, and it is corrupting politics and markets all over the world.

Hardly a day passes without a new story of malfeasance. Every Wall Street firm has paid significant fines during the past decade for phony accounting, insider trading, securities fraud, Ponzi schemes, or outright embezzlement by CEOs.

There is, however, scant accountability. Two years after the biggest financial crisis in history, fueled by unscrupulous behavior by the biggest banks on Wall Street, not a single financial leader has faced jail. When companies are fined for malfeasance, their shareholders, not their CEOs and managers, pay the price. The fines are always a tiny fraction of the ill-gotten gains, implying to Wall Street that corrupt practices have a solid rate of return.

Corruption pays in American politics as well. The Florida governor, Rick Scott, was CEO of a major health care company known as Columbia/HCA. The company was charged with defrauding the U.S. government by overbilling for reimbursement, and eventually pled guilty to 14 felonies, paying a fine of $1.7 billion. The FBI’s investigation forced Scott out of his job. But a decade after the company’s guilty pleas, Scott is back as a “free-market” Republican politician. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/05/03-8

[Mnemosyne]

1. Ain't that the truth! K&R n/t

[MattSh]

6. *THE* Jeffery Sachs from "Shock Doctrine?"

From the comments section of the linked article.

Yes, it's the same Jeffrey Sachs that Klein writes about in "Shock Doctrine," the Keynesian turned Milton Friedman acolyte who went around the world in the 1980s as Dr. Shock himself, imposing his austerity programs, keeping prices high and driving millions into poverty, from Bolivia to Russia. All he says here is true enough, and most of us have known all this for years, so maybe he's trying to make amends. Or maybe he just wants less blatantly obvious corporate crime and a return to "lawful free market" practices, where corporate CEOs get rich the traditional way, by being more discreet and delicate about their piracy.

So maybe this tiger has changed it's stripes, but as for me, I'll remain skeptical of this particular messenger.

[snot]

7. +1

[Prof Lester]

8. Maybe he's thinking to avoid Madame Gilloutine?

:evilgrin:

[Cal33]

2. Corporations are becoming greedier and greedier, and there is no end in

sight. Directly and indirectly they are responsible for most of the
wars going on over the globe. They do what they can to take over the
natural resources of those Third World nations that have them, and
spark their distrust, and later, their hatred for the West.

Several European nations, Britain in particular, colonized much of
the Middle-East in the 19th and 20th centuries, sowing the seeds
of hatred in these nations. After WWII, colonization became more or
less a dirty word. and open colonization has been abandoned.

But, greed and lust for other people's property is and always has
been a part of some types of human beings. Corporations began to
think of ways and means of getting the natural resources of smaller
nations without open warfare -- not always successfully,
as these former colonies have not forgotten what had
happened not so long ago, and they aren't going to take it lying
down now. This could be a partial explanation for Osama bin Laden's
hatred for the West. Cause and effect.

Let's call a spade a spade. Corporate greed is one of the main
main sources of international tensions, hatred and wars today -- just
as they are causing so much misery and discord within their own
nations. Corporate greed is our world's main problem today.

[MasonJar]

3. NPR interviewed the journalist who won the Pulitzer for National

Reporting yesterday. He wrote an expose on the banks. It was beyond my comprehension. Apparently the financial wizards at banks, brokerage firms et al were in league, purposely making big bucks for themselves and expecting it to eventually collapse. Somehow they were buying their own bad product, a sort of financial whirlwind of scam. As I said. over my head. How nice for them that we simply bailed them out and they are undoubtedly happily at it again in some form or another. After all they own the politicians so they'll never be stopped until their house of cards once again collapses of its own evil weight.

[Cal33]

4. It's too bad, but when they "collapse of their own evil weight" they'll

also probably take a lot of innocent people along with them.

[Knight Hawk]

9. Actually...................

They probably won't collapse.But many of the rest of us,the common man,will.They will be the very last to starve or freeze to death.....................

[Cal33]

10. Yes, and they will be the cause of it all.

[bertman]

5. REC. nt.

[classysassy]

11. Who is to blame?

We elect men and women that are sent to Washington to look out for our welfare,but they have been corrupted by the system,the system need to be changed.The only way to change the system is to change the people we send to Washington.The laws are in place to indict and convict the crooked politicians but they protect one another,so all need to be recalled or stand trial as criminals which they are.The mind set that an old congressman put forth years ago that congressmen"Must go along to get along " must be chan ged or we will continue to suffer because of the greed of our elected officials.