BY STEVEN KASZAB
The American and Canadian governments are concerned about the condition our banks have placed us into. Various past crises come to mind like the savings and loans crisis, and the failure of two possibly other American banks. The federal government has pursued banks with close ties to the various drug cartels in: Central and Latin America, Asia and Africa. Can we trust our banks?
Trust is the one thing that brought about the great depression long ago. The public lost their trust in the management of their savings, and the multiple loans approved long ago were called in, forcing small-medium and large firms and millions of private individuals to declare bankruptcy. Can that happen again?
Canadian banks are tied to their American cousins, and the Stock Exchange in New York and Bay Street can certainly lose their trust in a few powerful whales (anchor stocks). Traders have shown themselves to be very fickle, and easily wowed. The technology giants were created, their owners made very wealthy by these stock traders long ago, even when some of these giants were not making much profit. Banks invested in all forms of socially acceptable businesses with the hope that profit will be made.
Credit cards, lines of credit are all loans that can be recalled, with demands to be repaid in short order. Banks are not our friends, but corporations making massive beats upon whom to invest in and make their pound of flesh, they demand profit.
Paying off your private, or business debt is a clear pathway to a freedom most of us do not know, remember, or can hope for these days. The banking system can and does sway whole sectors of our economy towards a point in time where the banks can make significantly more profit, such as their investments in The Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario. Where massive profits can be made, you’ll find a bank or two leading the way to development, harvesting and growth. The little guy is certainly less important to a mammoth corporation like one of our banks. Small profits, collected in mass, are good, but difficult to manage. Failure rates these days are high.
Clearly we need to understand who lends us money, what our relationship is to these unnamed groups of firms that fall under an umbrella of the banks we know. If you fail to make payments over time, you’ll surely know their name, strategy and method of flesh extraction. Our future within this North American market will certainly be chaotic, uncertain and punishing to many.