SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

Discussion

The Salem News has a real-name policy for commenting. Users may sign in using the Facebook Connect tool above the comments field. Once your first comment is posted by a moderator, all future comments will post automatically. If you prefer not to use Facebook, send an e-mail with your comments user name (which must be the same as your real name), city or town, street address and daytime phone number to comments@salemnews.com. A staff member will contact you directly to confirm your identity. It may take a day or two before you can post comments. Only your user name will be public. All users are required to follow our rules for commenting, which can be found here.

comments powered by Disqus
November 18, 2009

Letter: Why aren't Summers, Rubin and Greenspan in jail, too?

To the editor:

I'm puzzled to explain to myself the difference between Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme that lured naive pension fund operators and others in business to invest the money they were entrusted with in a scheme that was paying suspiciously high rates of interest and the federal Ponzi scheme that was passionately supported by economists Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers?

So if Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail for his private Ponzi scheme, how come Greenspan, Rubin and Summers have not been charged for their part in the frauds made possible by the deregulated economy they so passionately defended and favored, and that allowed banks all over the world to gamble their funds on derivatives they didn't understand and subprime mortgages and they allowed to be rated AAA in order to attract greedy buyers with impossibly high interest rates of 30 percent or more?

Belatedly, the PBS show "Frontline" ran an hourlong show called "The Warning," which revealed how Greenspan, Rubin and Summers used their power to persuade Congress not to institute curbs that could have prevented the crash of the Wall Street casino market economy.

President Barack Obama promised to put regulatory legislation in place similar to what had been proposed many years before the crash. But it appears he has yielded to the pressure of corporate lobbyists and given cabinet status to a couple of market economy Wall Street types, like Summers and Timothy Geithner to deal with problems they helped create.

Paul Brailsford

Ipswich

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion

Nelson Benton Twitter Updates
Follow me on Twitter
Salem News Opinion Poll
AP Video
Police: Father Planned Deadly Fire for Some Time US, UK Pressure on Syria; More Homs Violence Raw Video: Mass Killer Wants Medal, Freedom Few Answers in Death of Sons of Missing Utah Mom Court Strips Contador of Tour De France Title Runaway Goat Leads Police on Wild Chase And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is... Raw Video: Deadly Helicopter Crash in Australia Raw Video: Smoke, Purported Gunfire in Syria Romney Latest Poll to Join Let-me-explain Club Blast Kills Husband of Missing Utah Mom, 2 Boys Obama: US, Israel Will Work Against Iran Nukes NJ Museum Finds 19th Century Recording Snow Causes Disruptions in Much of Europe Clinton: Vetoed U.N. Syria Resolution 'travesty' Romney Picks Up Decisive Win in Nevada Caucuses Gingrich Renews Vow to Campaign Until Convention Romney Rolls to Easy Win in Nevada GOP Caucuses Raw Video: Missing Family Found Alive in Ore. Police Clear Tents From Occupy Site in DC
Comments Tracker
Roll Call
Helium debate
Helium