4 ms·

Why is it no one ever puts the blame on the incompetent bureaucracies that are actually responsible for losing their countries' money?

PhasmaFelis 13y ago
Don't you think there's plenty of blame for everybody? If I leave my keys in the ignition with the window down and my car gets stolen, it's my own fault for being careless, but that doesn't mean the thief is innocent.
- kansface 13y ago
  There was neither a thief nor a theft. The equivalent would be if you declared you would attempt to fix the price of all Camrys. You buy a huge number of them to prop up the price. Some third party thinks this is stupid, borrows some Camrys and sells them for dollars. Eventually you run out of money and the price falls. There is no theft- it was simply a bad position for you to take in the first place. Baring any ethics, should governments be immune from loses in open markets? Who would participate?
  - zacinbusiness 13y ago
    An elite few wealthy politicians decided how millions of people's money would act in the global economy. They made a bad call, obviously. But Soros and company weren't forced to "go for the jugular." They could have effectively "taught the British government a lesson" by making a few hundred million dollars and leaving the currency in tact, rather than completely decimating it. It's just greed. And the fact that so few people can see that is alarming.
    - guard-of-terra 13y ago
      I see a lot of comments like this, presumably from UK citizens, and it looks like 99% income tax never taught you something. Alarmingly socialist world views for someone in the middle of Planet's biggest bank.
    - AnimalMuppet 13y ago
      But see, a few hundred million would not have taught them any lesson. They would have accepted that as the price of maintaining the pound in the range that the ERM said it needed to be in, and continued to do so. It was only when the losses became unacceptable that the politicians stopped acting foolishly.
arethuza 13y ago
I remember hearing a quote from someone who used to work at a fairly high level in the UK Civil Service - they described someone saying "Incompetence shouldn't be a barrier to a chap having a good career" - and it wasn't a joke.

PhasmaFelis 13y ago

Don't you think there's plenty of blame for everybody? If I leave my keys in the ignition with the window down and my car gets stolen, it's my own fault for being careless, but that doesn't mean the thief is innocent.

kansface 13y ago
There was neither a thief nor a theft. The equivalent would be if you declared you would attempt to fix the price of all Camrys. You buy a huge number of them to prop up the price. Some third party thinks this is stupid, borrows some Camrys and sells them for dollars. Eventually you run out of money and the price falls. There is no theft- it was simply a bad position for you to take in the first place. Baring any ethics, should governments be immune from loses in open markets? Who would participate?
- zacinbusiness 13y ago
  An elite few wealthy politicians decided how millions of people's money would act in the global economy. They made a bad call, obviously. But Soros and company weren't forced to "go for the jugular." They could have effectively "taught the British government a lesson" by making a few hundred million dollars and leaving the currency in tact, rather than completely decimating it. It's just greed. And the fact that so few people can see that is alarming.
  - guard-of-terra 13y ago
    I see a lot of comments like this, presumably from UK citizens, and it looks like 99% income tax never taught you something. Alarmingly socialist world views for someone in the middle of Planet's biggest bank.
  - AnimalMuppet 13y ago
    But see, a few hundred million would not have taught them any lesson. They would have accepted that as the price of maintaining the pound in the range that the ERM said it needed to be in, and continued to do so. It was only when the losses became unacceptable that the politicians stopped acting foolishly.

arethuza 13y ago

I remember hearing a quote from someone who used to work at a fairly high level in the UK Civil Service - they described someone saying "Incompetence shouldn't be a barrier to a chap having a good career" - and it wasn't a joke.