Dear Wall Street: we're sorry

We inadvertently gave the financial industry trillions of dollars to support their balance sheets and markets. We did this even though the major banks and brokerage houses simply do not need or do not want this help. Everything was bad in September 2008, but we had to go and stick his nose into the world of high finance.

Now we are doing even worse, trying to tell them how much to pay people what risks they can take themselves and what business kosher. Suddenly, we felt that understands the business of banking is better than the bankers themselves. We know who they should lend. We have a firm idea of what they are doing with our money.

We regret this.

We are sorry that we want to close monitoring of our money supply. We regret that we want to have state protection for our deposits, our current accounts, mortgages and credit cards. Maybe we look like simpletons, but we feel nervous when they lose jobs and are forced to sell our homes at a discount to eat.

It's our fault.

The fact is that Wall Street masterfully handled the bills. And we must recognize that the fee for an overdraft, rising interest rates and the collapse in the mortgage market - it's our fault, not the banks.

Funny, but Blankfeyn Lloyd (Lloyd Blankfein), executive director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will be forced to continue to apologize for the success of his company. He said that in view of the retrospective approach, Goldman would have done much differently. Goldman took the wrong position. However, during these comments on January 14, he said of the bets placed by Goldman against toxic mortgage securities, which they sold to customers. In the end, is the work of the lord.

Lloyd Blankfein, Reuters photo

I think I speak for all when I write this: Sorry Lloyd, I do not know how we came to such confusion. I think because they pay you big money ($ 68.5 million in 2007).

But, please understand, we had the best intentions, when we interfere with our "nalogoplatelschikovskoy" help.

When your balance sheets look like, if you have problems, you had been developed and introduced Paulson's plan to $ 700 billion.

We just want to support you temporary credit facilities secured by a pledge, a program designed to give the industry $ 200 billion in loans for "top-rated" credit cards, small business, student and auto loans.

$ 30 billion of public-private investment programs were intended only to ease the burden of bad assets on your balance sheet. When this program is no longer look so promising, we just tried to let you get rid of it, changing the accounting rules, which allow you to self assess the value of the junk.

When you are not able to issue debt, we told the federal deposit insurance corporation, the organization responsible for niche stores, take in ensuring your bonds. You took this without much enthusiasm. 84 bond issue to $ 309 billion have been implemented in the program. Citigroup Inc. issued, $ 64 billion. Goldman issued a $ 21 billion. Bank of America Corp. issued $ 44 billion.

We know that you have done this only to make us feel better.

And when it does not work, we simply told the Fed to buy an unlimited number of mortgage loans and pass one of your partners, American International Group Inc. $ 182 billion as the credit line.

How such actions could be construed as support for banks, despite the fact that they continued to bet on their own money on their own trading platforms, hedge funds and private equity funds - remains a mystery.


Bonuses for the hack
In comparison with the pressure on your bonus, all the above - just child's play. In Goldman average bonus per employee is $ 460,000, only slightly more than 9 times higher than the average income in the United States. Sorry, but not everyone is able to buy Bugatti Veyron, even used, for their pennies. It's so much to promote the automobile industry.

In retrospect, all that money to save, were probably intended for the payment of bonuses on Wall Street. Without such a serious cash, your bankers, probably would prefer to switch to more lucrative jobs elsewhere, for example, in baseball big leagues, or would play the lottery. They would not be aimed at stabilizing the financial system, and subsequent problems - it's our fault for having confidence in you. I understand, we do not pay big money for inference.

No, just cut our retirement accounts «401K», our individual retirement savings and, perhaps, if lucky, our homes. We are too dense to see how the bullet and blast our financial system, and taxpayers can never repay you for what we have experienced over the past two years.

So, Wall Street, excuse us for molestation. Forgive us, and Paul Volcker, a desire to return to boring old banking system. Forgive the sarcasm. And above all, forgive us for our gullibility.

MarketWatch
January 26