[QUOTE=Brian-E;363929]It's a pity the new economy thread for 2014 with your interesting initial posts has vanished, Ernst. If you still have what you wrote saved anywhere and feel like reposting it, I'm certain I am not the only person who would appreciate that.[/QUOTE]

I am hereby offering proof that Brian-E is not the only person that would appreciate it...

Norm

[QUOTE=Spherical Cow;363968]I am hereby offering proof that Brian-E is not the only person that would appreciate it...[/QUOTE]

But only assuming, of course, that all cows are spherical.... :wink:

MathBabe.org:
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL][QUOTE]I am also grateful to hear him make the point that widespread fraud, unprosecuted, is not simply a theoretical issue. It exposes the dysfunctionality of our justice system and it exposes basic unfairness in society, where depending on how rich you are and how complicated your crime is, you can avoid going to jail. Personally, in the past few months I’ve gone from being angry at the bankers to being angry at the prosecutors.[/QUOTE]Too weary to comment on this bleak situation especially when others do it better. Massive financial abuse abulia engulfs entire society. Film at 11.

Interesting thoughts from Jaron Lanier, [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/opinion/nocera-will-digital-networks-ruin-us.html?ref=opinion"]summarized in this NYTimes article[/URL].

[QUOTE=only_human;364000]MathBabe.org:
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL]Too weary to comment on this bleak situation especially when others do it better. Massive financial abuse abulia engulfs entire society. Film at 11.[/QUOTE]

Link does not work.

[QUOTE=gd_barnes;364033]Link does not work.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://mathbabe.org/2014/01/07/judge-rakoff-explains-why-no-banker-is-in-jail-ows/"]Judge Rakoff explains why no banker is in jail #OWS[/URL]
January 7, 2014 by Cathy O'Neil, mathbabe
[QUOTE]United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff is already kind of a hero to me, given that he’s the guy who rejected a “[URL="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/citigroup-mortgage-securities-settlement-with-sec-rejected-by-u-s-judge.html"]do not admit wrongdoing” settlement between Citigroup and the SEC[/URL] over mortgage-backed securities fraud because, according to Rakoff, the proposed settlement was “neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest.”

More recently Rakoff has written a fine essay in the New York Review of Books entitled [I][URL="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/jan/09/financial-crisis-why-no-executive-prosecutions/"]The Financial Crisis: Why Have No High-Level Executives Been Prosecuted?[/URL][/I] which I will summarize below but is well worth your time to read.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the links to both the original article and the commentary. It really irks me to read that the statute of limitations is drawing near for some of these crimes, as it seems that the lack of prosecutions invites similar misconduct in the future. But I don't always agree with Judge Rakoff's rationale for the lack of prosecution, as it seems to overlook the extent to which the government is a bought-and-paid-for subsidiary of the big corporations, especially the financial institutions. Still very valuable and thought provoking.

Also, a brief plea that some of the deleted posts from Jan. 1-5 be returned, whoever is responsible!

[QUOTE=philmoore;364055]Also, a brief plea that some of the deleted posts from Jan. 1-5 be returned, whoever is responsible![/QUOTE]

If you're referring to the stillborn MET2014 thread, there were only my 2 opening posts to that, and Chalsall's [url=http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=363887&postcount=936]inano-reply[/url] to #2.

I kept no copies of my posts - as I've noted elseweher, I'm done feeding the trolls. It's bad enough when the idiots are the regular users, but one expects better of supermods. I have other useful things I can do with my time, so the only reward of all the effort I put into these threads was discussion of the issues with thoughtful folks. When the trolls take over, that is finished. Recall what I said in the "how can we improve things?" thread about the inmates running the asylum?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;364060]If you're referring to the stillborn MET2014 thread, there were only my 2 opening posts to that, and Chalsall's [url=http://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=363887&postcount=936]inano-reply[/url] to #2.[/QUOTE]

Develop a sense of humor, Watson.... :smile:

I would like to see a modern version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, representing the events which led to the current economic crisis. This could be either a new version of Goethe's poem or of Disney's animation from Fantasia. The apprentice would not try to stop the runaway activity, but urge it on, leaving the mess for someone else to clear up.

[QUOTE=Nick;364099]The apprentice would not try to stop the runaway activity, but urge it on, leaving the mess for someone else to clear up.[/QUOTE]

You have, of course, read Niccolò Machiavelli's [URL="http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm"]The Prince[/URL]?