Last week at the annual gathering of super-wealthy elitists in Davos, Switzerland, bankster Jamie Dimon whined for at least the 12th time about criticism of banks. They only, you know, caused the Great Recession. As the Economic Populist points out,
Most of us are worried about job security, stagnant incomes, loss of pensions and benefits, lack of health insurance, home foreclosures. But the banksters ..."think the biggest challenge for the industry is overcoming public anger about bonuses and compensation."Here's Reuters reporting on Dimon's complaint:
...the JPMorgan Chase chief executive once again lambasted the media and politicians for portraying all bankers as greedy evil-doers. It was at least the 12th time since the start of the financial crisis that Dimon has complained about Wall Street critics painting all bankers as cut from the same cloth. But the timing of his latest outburst seemed odd.Reuters notes that Dimon likes to maintain a regular-guy image. As one critic said, "he is a man of the people because he wants a hand in every wallet."
During his bankster career, Dimon and his banks have
- lobbied hard against protecting consumers from predatory banking practices
- ruthlessly collected as many fees as possible from credit card holders
- paid $1.3 million to state attorneys general for deceptive marketing practices
- sold dubious mortgages
- processed home seizures with illegitimate paperwork
- allegedly ripped off customers through its relationship with Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff
Economist Simon Johnson blames the big banks for something even worse: causing the government's gigantic budget deficit. (Note: for those of you who think the bank bailout is over and "the TARP has been paid back," you're forgetting the trillions of dollars the Federal Reserve lent to banks at near-zero interest rates. Which, of course, they're lending to you at double-digit interest rates on your credit card.)
Writes Johnson in a terrific piece called "The Ruinous Fiscal Impact of Big Banks,"
Public deficits and debt ...have ballooned in the last three years for one simple reason – the big banks at the heart of our financial system blew themselves up. On this point, the conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which appeared last week, are very clear and utterly compelling.
No one forced the banks to take on so much risk. Top bankers lobbied long and hard for the rules that allowed them to behave recklessly. And these same people effectively captured the hearts, minds and, some would say, pocketbooks of the regulators – in the sense that a well-regarded regulator can and often does go work for a bank afterward.
The mega-recession, which is starting to look more like a mini-depression in terms of employment terms for the United States (which lost 6 percent of employment and is still down 5 percent from the pre-crisis peak), caused a big decline in tax revenues.So remember that budget deficits are not the fault of the teachers, firefighters, nurses, sanitation workers and other public employees who are losing pay, benefits and their jobs. They're the fault of those whiny-baby banksters.
