So Citigroup is profitable because investors think it's failing, while Morgan Stanley is losing money because investors think it will survive. I am not making this up.
Let's say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. So it tortured people to make them confess to the nonexistent link. There's a word for this: it's evil.
Let's say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. So it tortured people to make them confess to the nonexistent link.
There's a word for this: it's evil.
Just sayin'... "Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
No one is especially innocent here. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
If you want an Ancient greek example, if torture was applied it was applied as part of the legal system to a mans slaves. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
You don't have to be literate to torture. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
While the US was using torture to justify their agenda, the Soviets used their agenda to justify torture.
It just seems like an inadequate comparison to me. "Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
But that's by the by, as Paul Begala said "We -- our country executed Japanese soldiers who water- boarded American POWs. We executed them for the same crime that we are now committing ourselves." the final determining factor is that it isn't what the tortured person says about your country, it's what torturing them says about your country. keep to the Fen Causeway
Zactly. "Talking nonsense is the sole privilege mankind possesses over the other organisms." -Dostoevsky
I'm sure it's tedious and difficult and requires an exceptional memory for both facts and nuance. But it seems to be the only way to get high quality intelligence, rather than noise and screaming.
Of course some people like noise and screaming, so this approach won't interest them.
Torture belongs to the category of Glory of which absolute truth is a corollary. Absolute Truth has nothing in common with factual truths. "Evidence" gathered through confessions elicited under torture is beside the point. The point of torture is to assert absolute power over raw life, to negate rights, identity, diversity and equality, in the name of Glory.
FT Alphaville » Blog Archive » Banking credit catch-22 in action?
taxloss Apr 22 14:43 Is this the counter-cyclicality we were promised? ! Report The Itch Apr 22 14:26 So, you can buy an egg for 7 cents and sell it at 5 for a profit. ! Report Tears for Tier 1 Apr 22 14:17 I keep dreaming that I'm holding a fish, and I can't afford to pay for it.
Own Credit CVANow what about Citi? It has the same pricing model as GS, which calculates a FV of $1m. So surely C recognises a financial liability of $1m? No. Again, accounting standards differ slightly in wording, but in principal the fair value of a liability is the price at which an entity could extinguish any future obligations, in an arm's length transaction. I.e. "What price would a counterparty be willing to cancel/settle the trade at now. Well, we have seen above that GS, and probably the rest of the market, would accept $700k to cancel the deal. So, Citi gets to write the liability down to $700k. In accounting terms:DR Financial Liabilities $300kCR Principal Transactions $300kYes, you have read it correctly - Citi has made a profit of $300k as a result of becoming less creditworthy!!! In accounting/industry spreak, Citi has made an Own Credit CVA of $300k.
Some banks have actually been buying up their own bonds (for amounts less than their full face value), so it's not completely cut off from reality.
And think of when companies make losses - they suddenly get to pay less taxes, which ends up increasing their net profit is they can deduct these losses from significant earlier (or book provisions for later) gains... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
These accounting rules attempt to make balance sheets neutral to credit risk. But if the market overprices credit risk the CVA correction overshoots and you get a net profit from deteriorating credit. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
