Blog 42

I read a news report today stating that the total number of bank failures in the USA during recent times [circa 2008/9 financial crisis] has reached the staggering number of fifty [and counting]. The report mentions this matter-of-factly, like it’s quite normal.

Update 2009-JULY - USA failed banks reaches 68
Update 2009-AUGUST - USA failed banks reaches 72
Update 2010-JANUARY - USA failed banks reaches 160
Update 2010-OCTOBER - USA failed banks reaches 294
Update 2013-February - USA failed banks reaches 467
NOTE I originally referred to 50 bank failures as being 'staggering', there is no adjective in English that adequately describes the failure of 467 banks.

[In the text below, replace 50 banks with the latest total failure figure above]

What this tells me, without going into any detail is that thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, may have lost some or all of their hard earned money. Reports like this tell me that it was the financial system that failed and it was government that allowed a financial system to evolve in which it was possible for fifty banks to fail, that failed.

When, oh when, are people going to start questioning what these less-than-desirable people are up to instead of accepting each monumental failure, financial catastrophe and the misery it causes without question or any call for accountability?

As for correcting the underlying flaws in the financial system, well after a brief flurry of activity by the new Obama administration during 2008/9 it seems to have settled into the same old routine, financial reforms are still a long way away.

And it’s still a sad, sad world with thousands of children worldwide dying from starvation.

Postscript: July 2009

How in this world is it possible for a company that creates absolutely zero real wealth, a company that makes nothing, creates nothing [except money for itself and misery for many people], make 3 billion dollars profit in 3 months in the middle of a recession?

For any company in the financial sector to make a profit someone or some company somewhere has to make a loss [perhaps it was some of those banks that went belly up]. The profit announcement was made with whoops of joy and merrymaking by the financial media like we should all be saying wow! well done! handshakes all round, the recession has bottomed out.

In my opinion it’s disgusting, I’m talking specifically of course about Goldman Sachs a candidate if ever there was one to be subpoenaed by the US Congress along with JP Morgan, who by all accounts have already received their ‘invitation’ this week, to do a bit of squirming for the Senators. [Or is it all just a show put on to appease Joe Public?]