<nettime> global financial fraud

[allan siegel <allan@allansiegel.info>]

"we live in a society where capitalism itself has
become rampantly feral. Feral politicians cheat on their expenses; feral
bankers plunder the public purse for all it's worth; CEOs, hedge fund
operators, and private equity geniuses loot the world of wealth; telephone
and credit card compan ies load mysterious charges on everyone's
bills; corporations and the wealthy don't pay taxes while they feed at the
trough of public finance; shopkeepers price-gouge; and, at the drop of a
hat swindlers and scam artists get to practice three- card monte right up
into the highest ech elons of the corp orate and political world.

A political economy of mass dispossession, of predatory practices
to the point of daylight robbery-partic ularly of the poor and the vulnerab
le, the unsophisticated and the legally unprotected-has become
the o rder of the day. D oes anyone believe it is possible to find an honest
capitalist, an honest banker, an honest politician, an honest shopkeeper,
or an honest police commissioner anymore? Yes, they do exist. But only
as a m inority that everyon e else regards as stupid. G e t smart. G e t easy
profits. Defraud and steal! The odds of getting caught are low. And in any
case there are plenty of ways to shield personal wealth from the costs of
corporate malfeasance."

from Rebel Cities by David Harvey


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