Op-Ed: World trade collapses while Wall Street gets $18 billion bonus By By Paul Wallis Jan 29, 2009 in Business By “collapse”, the IMF mean down by roughly 45 per cent. So that’s nearly half of the world’s trade, in three months. Isn’t that sweet? The IMF wants government action, mainly economic stimulus packages like the US. The New York Times: That was the sixth-largest haul on record, according to a report released Wednesday by the New York State comptroller. While the payouts paled next to the riches of recent years, Wall Street workers still took home about as much as they did in 2004, when the Dow Jones industrial average was flying above 10,000, on its way to a record high. Some bankers took home millions last year even as their employers lost billions. Nice to know somebody’s getting such recognition for destroying the US economy. The only real surprise is Bin Laden hasn’t yet been recognized as a public benefactor. 911 was actually a lot cheaper, in terms of cost benefits. The great collapse, meanwhile, has trashed business to an unheard-of extent, as The bleak assessment, released early this morning, declares the global economy is in the grip of a "pernicious feedback loop" triggered by the collapse of credit and stock markets and warns there will be no recovery until governments take forceful action to restore confidence in financial markets. "Downside risks continue to dominate, as the scale and scope of the current financial crisis have taken the global economy into uncharted waters," the report says. Falling share and property prices are forcing businesses and households to cut their spending, while new credit has been choked. Hilarious, isn’t it? Just to make the payout to America’s Least Wanted more interesting, nobody’s too sure if the bailout money was or wasn’t used for bonuses. In keeping with the normal levels of competence which we’ve all come to rely upon for chronic spiritual nausea, they don’t seem to be able to track the money. What a surprise. The real joy is that these guys are socked into contracts which allow this kind of compulsive denial denominated in hard cash. If anyone remembers when the legal profession had any credibility, executive contract law was always big bucks, and this is where the money went. Law firms made billions writing these contracts, too. Thanks to the Great Limp Wrist of American corporate and financial regulation, which is marginally less draconian than Quiet Time at the average kindergarten, not much is likely to get done about the bonuses. There are rarely if ever any contractual obligations for non-performance. If there were, they were probably written out long ago. The joke is that the bonuses are actually down about 44% from their peak, when all the corruption and asset shuffling were in full blast. Those were the days, when you could securitize your garbage, sell it to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and tell everybody what a genius you were. Then you could go run over people in your sexual prosthesis, like a good gerbil. So the moral of the story is “Destroy world, get billion dollar bonuses.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? As a matter of fact, with enabling legislation, spines, and perhaps some form of intellect, Congress could legislate these guys back into the Stone Age, and get some of the money back where it belongs, too. There are no obstacles to that. There is nothing preventing the administration from changing the rules as it sees fit. There is no reason to tolerate this sheer parasitism. There is no reason to reward the people responsible for this disaster. If you steal a pair of shoes, you’re legally understood to have committed a crime. If you misrepresent every asset, decimate the nation’s capital investment, and wipe out trillions of dollars worth of people’s money, the net legal reaction is “Um….”. Maybe US law schools should teach subjects like basic business comprehension? The ability to use furniture? Being such nice lawyers that nobody has to put down newspaper when they enter buildings? Having some idea why there are supposed to be functional laws? Nah… Where else could you find a “legal system” where this is possible? Not that anyone would notice in Happy Valley, aka Wall Street. The world’s most adorable financial morgue is still raking the cash in.Nice to know somebody’s getting such recognition for destroying the US economy. The only real surprise is Bin Laden hasn’t yet been recognized as a public benefactor. 911 was actually a lot cheaper, in terms of cost benefits.The great collapse, meanwhile, has trashed business to an unheard-of extent, as The Australian describes the IMF report:Hilarious, isn’t it? Just to make the payout to America’s Least Wanted more interesting, nobody’s too sure if the bailout money was or wasn’t used for bonuses. In keeping with the normal levels of competence which we’ve all come to rely upon for chronic spiritual nausea, they don’t seem to be able to track the money. What a surprise.The real joy is that these guys are socked into contracts which allow this kind of compulsive denial denominated in hard cash. If anyone remembers when the legal profession had any credibility, executive contract law was always big bucks, and this is where the money went. Law firms made billions writing these contracts, too.Thanks to the Great Limp Wrist of American corporate and financial regulation, which is marginally less draconian than Quiet Time at the average kindergarten, not much is likely to get done about the bonuses. There are rarely if ever any contractual obligations for non-performance. If there were, they were probably written out long ago.The joke is that the bonuses are actually down about 44% from their peak, when all the corruption and asset shuffling were in full blast. Those were the days, when you could securitize your garbage, sell it to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and tell everybody what a genius you were.Then you could go run over people in your sexual prosthesis, like a good gerbil.So the moral of the story is “Destroy world, get billion dollar bonuses.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?As a matter of fact, with enabling legislation, spines, and perhaps some form of intellect, Congress could legislate these guys back into the Stone Age, and get some of the money back where it belongs, too.There are no obstacles to that. There is nothing preventing the administration from changing the rules as it sees fit. There is no reason to tolerate this sheer parasitism. There is no reason to reward the people responsible for this disaster.If you steal a pair of shoes, you’re legally understood to have committed a crime. If you misrepresent every asset, decimate the nation’s capital investment, and wipe out trillions of dollars worth of people’s money, the net legal reaction is “Um….”.Maybe US law schools should teach subjects like basic business comprehension? The ability to use furniture? Being such nice lawyers that nobody has to put down newspaper when they enter buildings? Having some idea why there are supposed to be functional laws?Nah… Where else could you find a “legal system” where this is possible? This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about World trade collapse, Imf, Wall street bonuses More news from world trade collapse imf wall street bonuses