Could this be the future of the United States Banking and Economic System? The political system in Venezuela is just slightly in front of us at the rate and direction our administration ia moving.

Are American Bankers the Jews of 1938 Germany?

On November 9th and 10th, 1938 the German Nazi government under Adolph Hitler ordered the attack on the Jewish population of Germany and Austria and confiscated or destroyed their property.

Are there similarities between that occurrence and the Obama administration demonizing of the American Bankers?

Is the Obama administration planning to do the same thing? I don’t believe so at this time but denunciation of the Jewish population was only the beginning. The reason the Nazi’s used this particular tactic was that they needed a common enemy to focus the populations’ hatred on.

There is a similar tactic used today against the management of financial institutions. They make too much money. They don’t care about their customers. They’re only in profit for themselves. They are destroying the country.

Let’s examine who the real owners of American financial institutions are.

The majority of stock held in banks and Wall Street institutions are held by mutual and retirement funds. Those funds represent millions of private citizens. Only a small percentage is owned by the executives of financial institutions.

When the administration demonizes “Bankers and Wall Street,” they are in fact demonizing you, the public who are the majority owners. I will agree that in some cases it seems that management of these “Wall Street Firms” and the management of banks are being overpaid, especially when they are creating losses. What is not mentioned in the speeches given by the President and administration officials is that the people who receive what they claim are excessive compensation are contractually required bonuses for making a profit for their divisions.

Let us not forget that contracts between two parties are in fact property rights and property rights are protected by the U.S. Constitution. The only parties who have a right to dictate compensation are the stockholders of a corporation.

Even though the administration committed billions of dollars to “financial institution bailouts,” they may not change the terms of a contract retroactively. That can only be done legally by renegotiating a contract.

What is the purpose of these attacks upon management? Just like in Germany of the 1930’s it is to misdirect the true cause of the problems existing in the economy and targeting the management of financial institutions as being evil.

In reality the economy can only function if a streamlined financial system exists. The public deposits money in banks and invests in Wall Street in order to create a profit for themselves. Pursuing this self-interest provides the basic cash flow for an economy to grow. Banks collect money, pay interest to the saver and lends out the money to businesses and buyers of major products such as homes and automobiles. Without this system of financing, the economy could not grow.

We can find many faults with how the financial sector operates, but that is a part of the financial system. Those companies that operate within the rules of the capitalistic system will prosper, and those that do not will eventually go bankrupt. No bailouts and let true capitalism work.

Fred Speckmann