What was the first thing our bankers did with their nearly trillion dollar bailout? They paid themselves bonuses, that's what . . .

This is a good economic study. Thanks for sharing.

One of the underlying principles of capitalism is that misuse of resources will lead to failure and release of those resources

To be fair, there was no choice with the bail out. That was the promise the government made. Force the banks to give bad loans because everyone needs a house, then cover the costs if the people don't pay. Once the government forced the banks to make more bad loans than good ones, obviously it fell apart.

People blame the banks for the housing crisis, but it had more to do with meeting government requirements.

This shows there was and is another way.

We need to look at all these 'free' cities like the Vatican, Washington DC, the City of London (not London as most people know it) and ask why they are all above the law?

We need to look at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel that helps to determine interest rates and arranges national loans and interest repayments through directing the IMF and World Bank - also all above the law.

We need to look at why economic inflation is good and deflation is not. Essentially a monthly 2% inflation rate means that you lose 2% of monetary value in your wage month on month.

We need to look at the use of compound interest rather than simple interest - why is extreme usury deemed a good thing?

We need to ask why our governments never talk about these things - if they really wanted to change our lives for the better then looking at these factors would be a good place to start.

... except that my friends in Iceland tell a different story. Unemployment numbers as massaged as America's. Many workers rerouted through special programs which allows the state to subsidize their wages. Great exchange rates have eased the high costs -- but there's a feeling that the currency will collapse again. And that's where that "cool" lead betrays the ugliness: "Iceland’s finance minister has announced a 39 per cent tax on investors looking to take their money overseas." Yeah, there are laws against buying foreign currency, it's pretty rough to buy precious metals, most commodities are unavailable. You're stuck with valuable paper, over priced (and limited) products, and nowhere to invest.

https://archive.is/2W4b2 | :

Three charts that show Iceland's economy recovered after it imprisoned bankers and let banks go bust - instead of bailing them out | The Independent

'While the UK government nationalised Lloyds and RBS with tax-payers’ money and the US government bought stakes in its key banks, Iceland adopted a different approach. '

'The country has imposed the tax to prevent it hemorrhaging money as it loosens bank laws imposed six years ago, when Iceland made the shocking decision to let its banks go bust. '

'Iceland’s finance minister has announced a 39 per cent tax on investors looking to take their money overseas. '

'Iceland also allowed bankers to be prosecuted as criminals – in contrast to the US and Europe, where banks were fined, but chief executives escaped punishment. '

'"Today is a milestone, a very happy milestone," Iceland’s finance minister Bjarni Benediktsson told the Guardian when he announced the tax. '

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