4 ms·
Seriously, I read this article and I wanted to puke. Why isn't the NY Times writing articles asking, "Why aren't more Investment Banksters in jail?" instead of
by lowkey 17y ago
Seriously, I read this article and I wanted to puke.
Why isn't the NY Times writing articles asking, "Why aren't more Investment Banksters in jail?" instead of promoting the fact that "The Banksters have found one more way to steal your money, New life insurance backed securities!"
How is this hacker news?
- byrneseyeview 17y agoIf you know they're a good deal, why don't you use your superior investment knowledge to make money. Then you can buy a newspaper and have it say whatever you want!
- neilc 17y agoHow would this be "one more way to steal your money"? Seems like a perfectly legitimate investment to me.
- nostrademons 17y agoIt's not the "steal your money" part that worries me, it's the perverse incentives that result in bigger financial payouts the more that people die. Methinks that if this becomes reality, we'll see many more seniors die of mysterious causes... On the plus side, this could solve both the population and social security problems! :-/
- neilc 17y agoMethinks that if this becomes reality, we'll see many more seniors die of mysterious causes... That seems a bit paranoid to me: what is being securitized are bundles of lots and lots of policies, so investors aren't speculating about whether a single person lives or dies. If you've purchased a package of 1000 policies, it seems pretty irrational to commit a felony just to do away with 1 of those policy holders...
- mhb 17y agoWhat if you're a hedge fund that owns these and is also deciding whether to invest in a company that has a promising cancer cure? Maybe you are willing to pay somewhat less for the company...
- ojbyrne 17y agoSure, but lobbying to make health care more expensive and of lower quality seems like a natural consequence.
- fnid 17y agoI agree with you. Many of them should be in jail. The folks from Enron went to jail and they caused much less damage. It wasn't an "accident" -- it was planned.
- nostrademons 17y agoI worry that it'll lead to something more akin to the French revolution, where the population declares open-season on anyone connected to the financial industry and decides that some heads oughtta roll, literally. IIRC, that didn't work out too well for France.