As the linked article below indicates, banks are doing quite well profitability wise. This, even though, over the last few years, more than a few of them have been levied with seemingly large fines. Of course, as each fine is charged, we seldom, if ever, get much of a perspective on how the fine compared to either what the bank earned as a whole for the year in question, or how it compared to some estimate of how much was made from the actual wrong doing. Without that comparison what does it matter if a given number, on its own, seems quite large? If it was a small percentage of what was earned in total, or from the illegal activity, then maybe the number needed to be quite a bit larger.
This is, of course, just another example of the inequality of outcomes that the major players in finance get; and not always because they represent campaign contributors. As the whole "Too Big to Fail" mentality clearly illustrates.
Unfortunately, from a purely systems point of view, the logic of "Too Big to Fail" is, all too often, quite valid. A fact for which, quite apart from the anger we naturally feel, ought to be more than sufficient incentive to start wondering about whether the system itself should be the target of our ire. The real question for me is how many times are we going to go round and round with greed motivated rule bending, and breaking, with the usual rap on the knuckles with a warped yardstick for measuring punishment, before we realize that it is money, and the system that supports it, that make for money men and women, not to mention the poorly run institutions we've allowed to become "Too Big To Fail."
Bank Earnings Placate Investors, If Not Customers
by MARTHA C. WHIT
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