Central Bankers: The REAL Rogue Traders

10/07/10 Paris, France – Frankie looked up at the judge
Judge, what will be my fine?
And the judge looked down at Frankie…
Girl, you got 99

– Frankie and Johnny

We feel sorry for . Such a good-looking young man. With such a promising future. He was the trader with Société Générale who lost 4.9 billion euros in unauthorized trading.

Now, the poor fellow has faced the music. Trouble was, it wasn’t a tune he wanted to hear. And it seemed a little inappropriate to the occasion to us too. More below…

The news yesterday was mixed. Unemployment increased in September. The dollar and US bond yields hit new lows. And China said that trying to force it to revalue its currency would be a “disaster for the world.”

Hmmm…

Stocks rose 22 points on the Dow. Gold went up another $7.

Gold must be ready for a correction. Or else we really have reached the final stage…the runaway stage in the great bull market.

Back to Kerviel…

Kerviel drew a five-year sentence (two years suspended.) Plus, he’s supposed to repay 4.9 billion euros…

“By his deliberate actions, he put in peril the existence of the bank that employed 140,000 people, of which he was a part and whose future was threatened,” said the judge.

Well, we’re sure he didn’t do it intentionally. We mean, he didn’t intend to bring down the bank.

Besides, a lot of other people made authorized trades that were much bigger…which also put their banks in jeopardy. In fact, some of the CEOs of the world’s largest banks also put their institutions in harm’s way. And then, when the banks ran into the ditch, these guys didn’t get five years and a $7 billion fine. Instead, they got a $50 million bonus!

Kerviel recalled a card trick at a corporate party:

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s up to you and our clients to find the margin. It has disappeared. Where’s it gone? Not here. Not there. Aha! Here it is, in my pocket!”

It didn’t go into Kerviel’s pocket. He’s penniless. The fine is about $6.7 billion. The man is said to earn about $3,000 a month. Talk about debt repayment! Let’s see, if he saves half his money each month. And he puts it all to paying off his debt to Société Générale… that’s $36,000 per year.

Hmm… If the poor man lives for 200,000 years…he’ll still be paying.

But wait. Suppose this quantitative easing thing takes off….

Yes, dear reader, central bankers are probably the biggest rogue traders of all. Remember Alan Greenspan? He has an opinion in The Financial Times today. We read it twice. Neither time did we discover anything new. He says the problem is fear. Until the fear diminishes…don’t expect businesses to start many new projects or hire many new employees. Thanks a lot for that insight, Alan.

Alan Greenspan is probably more to blame than any other human being for today’s financial crisis. He made a huge bet and put the whole world economy at risk. He bet that he knew better than the market. He put the Fed’s key lending rate below the rate of consumer price inflation…and left it there for four years. Over $12 trillion was lost – in America alone. Where’s the jail cell waiting for him? Where’s the $12 trillion fine?

And now central bankers are betting big again…BIG…and they risk not only putting the 140,000 employees of Société Générale out of work…but hundreds of millions of other people all over the world.

Central bankers are betting that they can add billions in QE money to the world’s money supply, without causing a calamity. Maybe they can. Maybe they can’t. It’s never been done before.

But every previous experiment with paper money has ended in disaster. Paper money never survived an entire credit cycle. When credit was expanding, people were happy to take the paper. When it shrank, they became fearful of the paper and wanted something more substantial. Paper money always ends up worthless.

Kerviel’s bets went well as long as credit was expanding. He was up more than $1 billion at one point. Then, when the markets began going down, so did his gambles.

Will it be any different for the central banks? Will their bets go bad too – perhaps in a spectacular blow-off in which the dollar itself becomes almost worthless. Remember, if the dollar loses just the equivalent of 5% of its 1900 value – there’s nothing left. It will be completely worthless.

Could it happen? Central bankers risk a full-blown currency calamity, worldwide, with full knowledge aforethought… This is premeditated currency assassination, in other words.

Where’s the jail cell waiting for Bernanke? Who’s going to fine him $10 trillion? How’s he going to pay?

So cheer up, Jerome. You might be able to pay your debt to society with a postage stamp… We have in our wallet a 10 trillion dollar note from Zimbabwe. Why not a 10 trillion dollar note from the US? We’re not predicting it…we’re just trying to keep the young man’s hopes up. And you never know…

Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning

Bill Bonner

Since founding Agora Inc. in 1979, Bill Bonner has found success and garnered camaraderie in numerous communities and industries. A man of many talents, his entrepreneurial savvy, unique writings, philanthropic undertakings, and preservationist activities have all been recognized and awarded by some of America's most respected authorities. Along with Addison Wiggin, his friend and colleague, Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. Both works have been critically acclaimed internationally. With political journalist Lila Rajiva, he wrote his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance. Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning. Dice Have No Memory: Big Bets & Bad Economics from Paris to the Pampas, the newest book from Bill Bonner, is the definitive compendium of Bill’s daily reckonings from more than a decade: 1999-2010. 

 

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