Capitalism Rules

I spend a good part of my time on this blog criticizing Capitalism. This morning I had to step back and applaud our financial system. In all the socioeconomic systems I have studied, none have come close to making the rich richer than ours. Russia couldn't do it as well, China couldn't, Japan couldn't, England couldn't (not sure about the leaders of the Roman Empire).
How long can this go on? Really?

Taxpayers have given FAILED banks about $2,000,000,000. This was suppose to stimulate our economy. What have we gotten in return for our HUGE investment? Loans are no easier to get and interest rates on credit cards are higher than ever. Where has the money gone?

Three days ago, the New York Post reported that Citigroup just gave their Smith Barney Brokerage unit brokers cash bonuses of $1,000 to $3,000. These bonus amounted to about $3.5 million of the taxpayers money to 'reward' businessmen in a failed company, IN THE FACE OF ONE OF OUR COUNTRY'S WORST FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN IN HISTORY! Pure brilliance.

Two days ago, Citigroup claimed an $8 billion dollar profit. Is this a turn around? I wouldn't put what little money I have left on it. So when they are failing, we give them money and see nothing, and when they are profiting we give them money and we see nothing.

Do you know what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plan is? Hoping private equity firms will buy toxic assets. "Hope" and "toxic assets" in the same sentence for a $2 trillion taxpayer investment doesn't sound like sound financial plan to me.

Transparency? Full Disclosure? Accountability? Demands? Don't hold your breath. Nothing has changed. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The middle class declines.

This from Democracy Now!

Fed: US Families Lost Record 18% of Wealth in 2008

A new government report says American families lost a record-high amount of wealth last year. According to the Federal Reserve, American families in 2008 cumulatively lost 18 percent of their wealth. The losses amount to $11 trillion, equal to the combined annual output of Germany, Japan and the UK. As losses add up, debt is also skyrocketing. Mortgages and credit card debt now amount to $13 trillion, or 123% of after-tax income. In 1995, debt amounted to 83 percent of income.