This is a fairly nice description of the tip of the credibility trap.
It is a description of moral hazard, of a partnership between the corporations and individuals in government. And it is a corrosive acid on the body politic. MF Global is not the end of it, but only a new beginning.
With every unpunished crime, with every successful deception, the monied interests grow more self-assured, and bolder.
The more rational in the financial system, academia, and the media wish this to stop, and know it will end badly, but a powerful few will have no restraints.
And so the dance must continue while the music keeps playing. The stewards of society, the Congress, the President, the media, the Fed, none have the moral sense and courage to merely stand up and say, "Stop. Enough. Stop beating your victims. Stop abusing the public."
Well, some may say it. Tavakoli, Yves, William Black, Elizabeth Warren, Barry Ritholz, Simon Johnson, and others have all said it, well, and many times.
And among the powerful Obama may say it. Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich may say it. But they do not mean it, and will do nothing substantial about it. And that is a national tragedy.
Have we no conscience left, no decency?
