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Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine. In any civilized country, the government would hav

Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine. In any civilized country, the government would have conditioned bailouts on the people at the top being fired and prosecuted. The business criminals specifically counted on a bailout, and they should have to pay for that with treasure, flesh, and time in prison, but instead of doing any of that, disincentivizing that behavior going forward, they instead encouraged it. That crypto companies did not get that treatment is a function of them not being the cornerstone of the economy, just a bunch of middle-class and rich people getting fucked on the side.

quickthrowman 3y ago
> Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine. Were they retired at the time? I’m going to assume they were working. If stocks drop 40% and you still have a job and can contribute to your retirement and personal investment accounts, a 40% drop in stocks is a sale on stocks, not a bad thing. How are their retirement funds doing now that the S&P 500 is at ~4300 in 2023 instead of ~6xx in 2008? That’s a 7x increase from the bottom in 15 years. Assuming they didn’t do something stupid like panic sell at the bottom and buy back in years later, they’re doing just fine now.
- phone8675309 3y ago
  They were a year or two out from retiring and had to extend their time in the workforce through no fault of their own, yet nobody at the top who is responsible for both the theft of their money and years of their life was ever prosecuted for securities fraud or any other such thing. If I stole $50 from the till at the corner gas station, I'd be arrested and prosecuted. If someone steals $50 million and their company gets bailed out by the government because they're exempt from the laws of capitalism (private profits, socialized losses) they get a golden parachute and a pat on the back.
pjc50 3y ago
> Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine They're equity investors. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. They are by definition the people who signed up for a risk/reward tradeoff who should absorb losses first before any bailout. > would have conditioned bailouts on the people at the top being fired and prosecuted You can't prosecute people simply by government fiat! There has to have been a specific crime committed! Not even Matt Levine thinks everything is securities fraud. Please elaborate on which specific illegal acts by specific named people everyone is angry about? So far as I'm aware those are limited to Sean Quinn, and IMO the "robosigning" scandal and a few other incidents like the Wells Fargo mass ID fraud scheme (not actually linked to the GFC) > The business criminals specifically counted on a bailout Evidence?

quickthrowman 3y ago

> Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine. Were they retired at the time? I’m going to assume they were working. If stocks drop 40% and you still have a job and can contribute to your retirement and personal investment accounts, a 40% drop in stocks is a sale on stocks, not a bad thing. How are their retirement funds doing now that the S&P 500 is at ~4300 in 2023 instead of ~6xx in 2008? That’s a 7x increase from the bottom in 15 years. Assuming they didn’t do something stupid like panic sell at the bottom and buy back in years later, they’re doing just fine now.

phone8675309 3y ago
They were a year or two out from retiring and had to extend their time in the workforce through no fault of their own, yet nobody at the top who is responsible for both the theft of their money and years of their life was ever prosecuted for securities fraud or any other such thing. If I stole $50 from the till at the corner gas station, I'd be arrested and prosecuted. If someone steals $50 million and their company gets bailed out by the government because they're exempt from the laws of capitalism (private profits, socialized losses) they get a golden parachute and a pat on the back.

pjc50 3y ago

> Tell all of my friends whose retirement funds dropped significantly as a result of this that they were fine They're equity investors. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. They are by definition the people who signed up for a risk/reward tradeoff who should absorb losses first before any bailout. > would have conditioned bailouts on the people at the top being fired and prosecuted You can't prosecute people simply by government fiat! There has to have been a specific crime committed! Not even Matt Levine thinks everything is securities fraud. Please elaborate on which specific illegal acts by specific named people everyone is angry about? So far as I'm aware those are limited to Sean Quinn, and IMO the "robosigning" scandal and a few other incidents like the Wells Fargo mass ID fraud scheme (not actually linked to the GFC) > The business criminals specifically counted on a bailout Evidence?