Paulson's Fairy Tales ...
I see a bad moon risin' | I see trouble on the way | I see earthquakes and lightnin' | I see bad times today
Of the 120 publicly traded firms the Journal analyzed, CEOs cashed out a total of more than $21 billion. However, data was gathered only from publicly traded companies, and thus does not include similar fortunes that have been made by "hedge fund chiefs, Wall Street traders, and executives who sold their companies outright." Nor did it include data related to exit packages, the multimillion-dollar "golden parachutes" awarded to retiring or fired executives.
The Journal’s findings underscore the parasitism and criminality of the US financial elite. Defenders have long justified extravagant CEO pay by claiming that these were the talented "risk-takers" who generated enormous wealth for investors. But the Journal’s data shows that there is no correlation between compensation and a firm’s success. On the contrary, many CEOs rewarded themselves just as their corporations approached ruin.
Tom Eley | CEOs "Cashed Out" Prior To Economic Crisis
I hear hurricanes a'blowin' | I know the end is comin' soon | I fear rivers overflowing | I hear the voice of rage and ruin
... meet your back pocket
Hope you got your things together | Hope you are prepared to die | Looks like we're in for nasty weather | One eye is taken for an eye
The creation of equity bubbles is just a clever means of social engineering, just like regressive taxation. It separates the wheat from the chaff, exacerbating dormant animosities between the classes. The Fed has skillfully aided its White House counterparts in creating the same divisions that existed during the Gilded Age, further fueling the animus towards workers. But now the massive debt bubble is crashing and threatens to bring down the whole system in heap. Bernanke and Paulson are frantically trying to plug the holes in the dam rather than rebuild on a solid foundation of fair pay for productivity.
Mike Whitney | Every Trick in the Book
Don't go around tonight | Well, it's bound to take your life | There's a bad moon on the rise
Creedence Clearwater Revival | Bad Moon Rising
