Tag Archives: Rule of Law

Economics, Events, Politics, The Mint

MF Global Hearings move to the Senate: Bombs dropping left and right amongst the deaf

12/13/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Today the Agricultural committee of the US Senate played host to what has become the political and financial spectacle of the year:  The Hearings on the MF Global collapse.  We have equated these hearings to professional wrestling.  While high in entertainment value, the spectators are left to wonder how much of it is real and how much of the action is staged.

 

Today, Jon Corzine, MF Global’s former CEO, the ultimate insider who has become the poster boy for the corporate and political corruption that seems to rule the day, was joined by Bradley Abelow, former President and COO of MF Global and Henri Steenkamp, who is still acting as the firm’s CFO.

 You can watch the sad spectacle on C-SPAN at the following link: http://www.c-span.org/Events/Senate-Looks-into-MF-Global-Bankruptcy/10737426222/

 

Jon Corzine takes a quick thumb to the eye at MF Global’s Wrestlmania

It appears that the addition of two more members of MF Global’s senior management team was intended to give the illusion that there may be more information forthcoming at this hearing than at the earlier hearing held by the House Agricultural Committee.  That illusion was quickly dispelled as soon as each of them opened their mouths.

 In summary, they are very, very sorry.  They are aware that this situation has undermined confidence in the markets.  They do not know where the $1.2 billion of missing client funds are.  They are pretty sure that the funds went missing from their treasury group, where the funds are held.

 Strangely, the Patriot Act of 2001, in addition to steamrolling the US Constitution, included provisions which required every banking institution in the US to “know their customer,” which in practice means that no transfer from US accounts could have taken place without the authorities being able to quickly track who the money went to.  This provision, which on its face would make theft and money laundering in US Financial institutions impossible, makes “not knowing” who the money went to an untenable defense.

Nonetheless, Corzine and his cohorts stated again and again that they have no idea where it went.

The only revelation, apart from the names of a few MF Global employees who were offered as sacrificial lambs before the inquisition style questioning, was that the CFO of North American division was apparently on vacation when the funds went missing. 

 

They never mentioned whether or not this individual had returned.

 

Corzine went as far to say that nothing he said, such as “I don’t care where you get the money, we have to make this margin call,” for example, “should have been construed” as permission to transfer client funds into MF Global operating accounts and then out to counterparties.  He is obviously slipping towards a plea and hoping to do time with his Goldman buddies at a posh jail in Manhattan.

 

By the end of the morning, nothing that was said, either by a member of the Senate or former MF Global executive, served to instill any measure of confidence.

 

The afternoon, however, looked promising.  The regulators who were on the case and had their noses close to the ground were set to testify.  CME Group Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy, MF Global Trustee James Giddens and CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers sat down before the committee and took the obligatory oath.

 

Mr. Giddens lead off, restating the obvious.  He is in charge of ensuring that MF Global assets are liquidated and that the proceeds distributed to the creditors based on the criteria laid out in the US Bankruptcy code.  He would later state that efforts to recover assets abroad had been blocked by sovereign governments (those across the Atlantic), who are likely protecting their banks from what would be a devastating clawback of funds.

 

Then, just as we thought that the afternoon would be a snoozefest, Mr. Duffy of the CME Group dropped a bombshell.  In his opening remarks, he stated that he was “in the room” when a CME employee was on the phone with an MF Global employee who stated that Mr. Corzine had direct knowledge that client funds were missing (or in industry parlance, “loaned out”) well before the weekend of October 31st.

 

This directly contradicted Mr. Corzine’s testimony under oath in which he stated that he had “no knowledge” of the missing client funds until that fateful weekend.

 

Et tu, Brute?

 

The diversion only lasted for a moment.  The committee then proceeded to flagellate Mr. Duffy and the CME Group for defending the idea that their exchanges can properly self regulate themselves.

 

Mrs. Sommers of the CFTC was then flagellated by the committee for the failure of the government agency to regulate entities such as the CME Group and MF Global which are supposed to, if we understand correctly, self regulate themselves.

 

As today’s chapter of the spectacle came to a close, there were more questions than answers.  Like the old WWF, no scores were permanently settled and we will have to tune in Friday to see how the next stage in this drama unfolds.  It promises to be exciting, as the committee includes none other than Ron Paul (R-TX), the one man in Congress who may actually understand what happened.

 

The Witness list for Friday can be found here.

 

For those who have not been following, the MF Global situation is extremely important because a number of things that investors have been able to count on have been called into question.  A brief list of these now invalid assumptions:

 

–          Client funds are properly segregated from a brokerage company’s operating funds.

–          Exchanges such as the CME Group will backstop (make whole) clients in the event that one of their approved brokerage firms goes bankrupt.

–          Exchanges will halt trading in the event of a bankruptcy until any missing client funds can be accounted for and that trades from customers of the bankrupt brokerage can be executed.

–          Once a brokerage firm declares bankruptcy, all assets must be handed immediately over to a trustee who from that moment on has a fiduciary duty to sell the bankrupt firms assets to the highest bidder to satisfy as many creditors as possible.

–          Regulatory agencies such as the CFTC have controls and monitoring in place which will prevent clients from suffering losses if a brokerage firm misappropriates their funds.

–          Sarbanes Oxley has effectively eliminated corporate fraud.

–          The commodity exchanges, such as the CME Group, can effectively self regulate.

–          Theft is illegal.

 

Every day which passes in which there is not a full recovery of the client funds held by MF Global adds to the list of questions.  And every day that passes serves to call further into question the ability of all brokerage houses, exchanges, and government regulators to make good on their promises.

 

The MF Global situation is not simply about the bankruptcy of a large brokerage, it is about whether or not the rule of law can be trusted to operate in the financial markets of the United States of America.

 

For all of the bankruptcies and bank seizures that have occurred in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, in most cases there has been confidence that the framework of the markets could be trusted, and that the myriad of regulatory entities which are supposed to make Capitalism safe for all have everyting under control.

 

After MF Global, one has to question whether any asset, paper or physical, entrusted to a financial institution is safe.

 

In related news, Mr. Giddens (the MF Global Trustee above) announced today that JP Morgan would be probed in the MF Global investigation.

 

This can only serve to further disrupt futures markets.  Is the end of the current system nigh?

 

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for December 13, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.43
Oil Price per Barrel:  $100.02

Corn Price per Bushel:  $5.88  
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.96%
FED Target Rate:  0.07%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,632 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  8.6%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  -0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  11,995  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,255,500,000,000 RED ALERT!!!  THE ANIMALS ARE LEAVING THE ZOO!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,623,700,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!

Economics, The Mint, True Capitalism

Why the morally corrupt are assured of promotion in and leadership of the Might Makes Right ideological system – Part II

11/23/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

If you were not able to join us yesterday for Part I, please take a brief moment to review it by clicking here:

Why the morally corrupt are assured of promotion in and leadership of the Might Makes Right ideological system – Part I

We will pick up where we left off…

The acts which are required to carry out an economic system doomed to failure inevitably insures that those who lead would be the worst amongst us in terms of adhering to any sort of moral code, for they have chosen to pursue the economic or political program above the obligations of morality, no matter what the cost.  They possess the ability to mute their conscience and oversee acts that are increasingly despicable and outrageous in pursuit of the aims of the program.

Hayek goes on to argue that as the Totalitarian economic and social program inevitably begins to fail, the leader of said system would increasingly deem it necessary to employ a larger number of individuals to enforce the increasing sacrifices required to continue the program.  He offers three reasons why this inevitable outcome further assures that the leader surrounds himself with and encourages the promotion of those who are capable of the worst forms of moral corruption:

“First, the higher the education and intelligence of individuals become, the more their tastes and views are differentiated. If we wish to find a high degree of uniformity in outlook, we have to descend to the regions of your moral and intellectual standards where the more primitive instincts prevail. This does not mean that the majority of people have low moral standards; it merely means that the largest group of people whose values are very similar are the people with low standards.

Second, since this group is not large enough to give sufficient weight to the leader’s endeavors, he will have to increase their numbers by converting more to the same simple creed. He must gain the support of the docile and gullible, who have no strong convictions of their own but are ready to accept a ready-made system of values if it is only drummed into their ears sufficiently loudly and frequently. It will be those whose vague and imperfectly formed ideas are easily swayed and whose passions and emotions are readily aroused who will thus swell the ranks of the totalitarian party.

Third, to weld together a closely coherent body of supporters, the leader must appeal to a common human weakness. It seems to be easier for people to agree on a negative program — on the hatred of an enemy, on the envy of those better off – than on any positive task. The contrast between the “we” and the “they” is consequently always employed by those who seek the allegiance of huge masses. The enemy may be internal, like the “Jew” in Germany or the “kulak” in Russia, or he may be external. In any case, this technique has the great advantage of leaving the leader greater freedom of action than would almost any positive program.

Advancement within a totalitarian group or party depends largely on a willingness to do immoral things.”

The Might Makes Right ideology, then, far from being a viable alternative to True Capitalism, assures a slow march towards a society which openly ignores the rule of law and, as a consequence, quickly becomes devoid of morality.

Can you now see why the ideological battle between True Capitalism and Might Makes Right is much more than a simple choice of economic systems, rather, it determines the moral basis upon which a majority of the society’s members will act.

 

Jon Corzine - A shining example of leadership in the Might Makes Right system

Unfortunately, we have a shining example of the phenomenon of the worst rising to the top in Jon Corzine, former governor of New Jersey and CEO of the now infamous investment bank, MF Global.  Mr. Corzine is a career investment banker and politician.  In other words, he has been firmly indoctrinated and skillfully trained in two of the most destructive trades known to mankind.

Mr. Corzine allegedly saw nothing wrong with raiding the cash accounts of MF Global’s clients in a vain attempt to stave off the firm’s bankruptcy which was declared on October 31, 2011.  There is no way to sugar coat what happened in the days leading up to MF Global’s demise.  MF Global allegedly robbed its clients’ accounts to meet its own obligations.  The fact that the commodity exchanges have been allowed to operate without immediately making the defrauded clients whole has caused an unprecedented breach of the trust which underpins the smooth operation of these exchanges.

Perhaps Mr. Corzine thought he was still a politician.  In Government, it has become a common and acceptable practice to rob a legally established trust fund and replace it with the government’s IOUs.

Mr. Corzine is but the most recent example of the level of hubris and moral corruption required to occupy a high level post in the government and financial sectors circa 2011.

The MF Global bankruptcy and subsequent actions taken by the regulators have called into question whether or not the rule of law will prove supreme in such a situation.  As a society increasingly leans towards a Might Makes Right ideology, the excuses for ignoring the rule of law proliferate.  Hayek observed the inextricable link between the rule of law and Freedom when he wrote the following:

“NOTHING distinguishes more clearly a free country from a country under arbitrary government than the observance in the former of the great principles known as the Rule of Law. Stripped of technicalities, this means that government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand.”

The most famous modern excuses for ignoring the rule of law during the war on terror and the financial crises are: “These actions are taken in order to protect the American people,” and “These actions have been taken to ensure the stability of the Financial System.”

Fellow taxpayer, do you personally feel safer than 10 years ago?  Do you believe that the financial system is more stable than five years ago?

These are important questions, for the answer may reveal which side of the ideological battle one identifies with.  True Capitalism or Might Makes Right, for there is no ideological middle ground.

The governments of the world are busy tirelessly advancing a failed program.  It should come as no surprise, then, that nearly every action that the governments have taken to fight the war on terror and the financial crisis only seem to have made the original problem worse.

It is clear that as long as the Might Makes Right ideology is embraced by institutions and governments, those who are best able to ignore basic morality and the rule of law are most likely to populate their halls of power.

It should come as no surprise, then, that man’s only hope for justice is to reject Might Makes Right and embrace True Capitalism.  Only then will lasting peace and prosperity be attainable.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for November 23, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.34
Oil Price per Barrel:  $98.01

Corn Price per Bushel:  $5.98
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.95%
FED Target Rate:  0.08%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,700 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  -0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  12,096  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,121,700,000,000 RED ALERT!!!  THE ANIMALS ARE LEAVING THE ZOO!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,644,200,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!

Economics, Gold, Politics, Silver, The Mint, True Capitalism

Why the morally corrupt are assured of promotion in and leadership of the Might Makes Right ideological system – Part I

11/22/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

After a brief break in our faithful correspondence, we are compelled to pick up the proverbial pen to complete an incomplete thought in a vain attempt to eat Thanksgiving dinner in peace.  If you are a new reader of The Mint, we will simply relate that the Mint is the product of a deep felt agitation by its author.  It is what could be referred to as therapy.  The thoughts, once on paper, leave us in peace.  Until then, they stir, deep in our spirit, waiting to escape via these words.

How very fortunate and long suffering you are, fellow taxpayer.

Before we continue our mantra of Anarchy, True Capitalism, Natural Law, and Might Makes Right, we will share a few important observations.

First, the MF Global implosion is now reported to have left a $1.7 Billion hole in the capital base of a highly leveraged commodity and derivatives market.  MF Global was a primary dealer, one that had the unconditional trust of the exchange and other secondary commodity dealers.  It was a silent pillar of these markets.  The aftermath of their implosion, both in loss of capital and confidence, has only begun to unfold.  Commodity markets are no longer “safe” by normal standards.  This situation is best watched by your money at a distance.

Second, while Europe implodes, the US has been spending most of its time firming its position in Asia.  There has been speculation that the US is moving to aggressively devalue the dollar vis-à-vis the Yuan.  Will it be the 10:1 reverse split that we have speculated about here?  No one knows, but it would appear that the US Dollar will not serve as a reliable store of wealth in the short term.  Silver and Gold come to mind as viable substitutes as this drama plays out.

Occupiers take note of a Bolivian tactic of blocking major thoroughfares

Finally, It appears that the Occupy protesters are now wising up and using tactics which we call the Bolivian tactic, that of blocking major thoroughfares.  It is much more effective, not to mention exciting, than urban camping.  As a practical matter, if your livelihood in any way relies on a major thoroughfare being open in an area where the protests are growing, we suggest that short term contingency plans be considered.

These events and any pain they cause should be short term, maybe three to four months of adjustments, if they are allowed to simply run their course.  If the Government continues to intervene, they will plague us indefinitely.  We pray for the former and prepare for the later.

With that off our chest, we continue pondering life as we know it.  Our question today is:  Why does it seem that the worst morals seem to come out on top?  First, a glance at Isaiah:

“ And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.  And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable,”  Isaiah 3:4-5

Have you ever complained about a politician?  The government?  How about your boss?  The current state of society?  If you haven’t, you are indeed a rarity in this day in age, for there is much complaining, and seemingly much to complain about.

How did we arrive at this, fellow taxpayer?  If democracy is supposed to deliver the cream of the crop in terms of leadership in the government, why does it seem that most politicians are the epitome of immoral liars?

This question was thrust upon us as we were reading the “Is there no shame” rant at zerohedge.com and came across the words “Hayek’s theory that the worst always rise to the top.”  We then perused Hayek’s theory in an excerpt from the “Road to Serfdom.”

In the section entitled “Why the Worst Get to the Top,” Hayek states that:

“There are strong reasons for believing that the worst features of the totalitarian systems are phenomena which totalitarianism is certain sooner or later to produce.

Just as the democratic statesman who sets out to plan economic life will soon be confronted with the alternative of either assuming dictatorial powers or abandoning his plans, so the totalitarian leader would soon have to choose between disregard of ordinary morals and failure. It is for this reason that the unscrupulous are likely to be more successful in a society tending toward totalitarianism. Who does not see this has not yet grasped the full width of the gulf which separates totalitarianism from the essentially individualist Western civilization.”

Suddenly, it all makes sense.  As man has generally chosen to pursue the Totalitarian, or what we call the Might Makes Right ideology, it would follow that those thrust into power should be among the most immoral, unscrupulous, human beings on the planet.

In summary, the Might Makes Right ideology unwittingly promotes the worst individuals to positions of power, as they are best suited to carry out the immoral and contradictory demands which are invariably made of the persons occupying positions of power in such a system.

Depressed?  Don’t be.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  More tomorrow.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for November 22, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.34
Oil Price per Barrel:  $98.01

Corn Price per Bushel:  $5.98  
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.95%
FED Target Rate:  0.08%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,700 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  -0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  12,096  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,121,700,000,000 RED ALERT!!!  THE ANIMALS ARE LEAVING THE ZOO!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,644,200,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!