Hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam (net worth $1.3 billion) is today found guilty in New York of insider dealing. He could go to jail for 25 years.

He is just one of a kind, making billions at the expense of the rest of us. It works like this.

John Paulson (who has not done anything illegal) hoovers up an astonishing $5 billion last year.

How do these people make their billions?

Fortunately, we can get a glimpse of the world of Credit Default Swaps, Collateralised Debt Obligations and all the associated mumbo jumbo by watching the excellent documentary movie “Inside Job” which charts the global financial meltdown.

It’s been around for a while but I have only just seen it.

Seems to me that members of the Independent Commission on Banking should be required to view the movie before delivering their final report – expected in September. And to write a critique. But that's not going to happen.

The Commission’s interim report, published last month, was dismissed by GMB General Secretary, Paul Kenny.

The elephant in the room, the bonuses and the greed which were the root cause of all the trouble and which led to the bankers' recession, has been completely ignored in this report. There is no guarantee that this root cause will be tackled so there is no guarantee that it won't bring the banks down again.

The masters of the universe (aka the baddies) are still out there, alive and well, with their eye watering bonuses and monster stock options, giving two fingers to the rest of us.

Unfortunately, our collective anger has all but evaporated.

And for the bankers and their friends it is back to business as usual.

Attachments:

Independent Commission on Banking.pdf

[Independent Commission on Banking]

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