In Banking They Keep the Profits, We Pay the Fines

Cross-posted at hbh...

As soon as I heard regulators and Chase agreed to a $13 billion fine for, well whatever, my first thought was how were we going to pay for it?

JPMorgan Chase has come to a tentative agreement with the U.S. Justice Departmentto pay a record fine of $13 billion in a settlement with state and federal regulators. The bank still faces a U.S. criminal probe into its mortgage bonds along with more than a dozen probes globally.

One thing for certain was Chase itself was not going to pay it, no one at any corporate, decision making level was going to pay it, and certainly the effects of criminality in the banking system was not going to show up in the paychecks or bonuses of those responsible for the criminality.  Their sinecure was going to continue, since that is how capitalism works.

Mish Shedlock, reporting in another context, explains exactly how we will pay Chase's $13 billion dollar fine.  Mish does not relate his story to the fine payment, but this is how the "watchdogs" in government on one hand pretend to punish a wrongdoer, and on the other hand make the rest of us pay.  Until the $13 billion dollar fine is paid, you'll just have to do with less.

The reason usury is forbidden is because it does damage.  The amazing part is we need absolutely sero usury (interest on  loans) to make a modern economy work.  Usury is no more necessary to business than gambling is to enjoying life.  Yes, some people believe thay cannot be happy without gambling, but there is another area where participation presents only downside to the players.

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