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[Harkon Haakonson]

Yeah, but a bank this large is not island unto itself. If you just let it collapse as a punishment, it's like ripping out an unhealthy organ out of the body as a "punishment". Maybe sometimes it is necessary, but it should be the last resort with contingency plans, not a "meh whatever, **** it" go-to response.

I would rather see it nationalized than go bankrupt.

I'm entirely aware of that, we've had our share of bailouts in Portugal and it honestly gets quite old. With that mentality, banks won't ever have real accountability for being managed extremely irresponsibly, because they can always just expect a bailout when it goes bad and it's the taxpayer that pays for them doing a ****ty job, just so they don't lose their money in the bank... It's a ****ty precedent for it to be the norm and it would be good to start putting a scare into them, even if it harms customers. Otherwise it keeps happening and there's no incentive to function like a real company as you're pretty much guaranteed to be saved. The concept of a bailout IS pretty ridiculous, noone else gets a restart button.

 

[kurczak]

I would rather see it nationalized than go bankrupt.

And how does that fit into your bodily metaphorical universe?

Ehhh....it doesn't?

Has any (self-respecting, non-south-american) country ever outright nationalised a bank like that? I don't know how that wouldn't descend into embezzlement and self-benefiting policy making. But you're the Ekonomi-Maiden so maybe there's some massive example I'm missing.

Depends on your definition of nationalization. It doesn't always have to be the Red Guards just straight up marching into a building and declaring it nationalized.

British government bought BoE itself after WW2, it also bought Northern Rock and big parts of Lloyds ain 2008, Sweden effectively nationalized (bailed out in exchange for shares) banks in the 90s, similar thing happened between US government and Citibank. France nationalized a bunch of banks during Mitterand's presidency.

I don't recall any specifically German bank undergoing something like that. But it's certainly not unheard of, globally speaking.

Haarkon: there's bailouts and there's bailouts. Bailouts that force the banks surrender some shares to the government don't run as much moral hazard.

Edit: what should be more enforced is personal responsibility of the execs. One thing is playing it fast and loose (200 which is admittedly kind of weird to make a crime, but the way the LIBOR thing fizzled out was extremely scandalous imo.

 

[Temujin]

I would rather see it nationalized than go bankrupt.

And how does that fit into your bodily metaphorical universe?

Has any (self-respecting, non-south-american) country ever outright nationalised a bank like that? I don't know how that wouldn't descend into embezzlement and self-benefiting policy making. But you're the Ekonomi-Maiden so maybe there's some massive example I'm missing.

Belgium nationalised the Belgian branch of Dexia bank in 2011 it cost them € 3,73 billion but they couldn't let the bank fail, it would have been the end of the Christian Democrats as the financial branch of their unions had urged it's members to invest their life savings in what turned out to be a terribly bad Dexia fund. The Nationalised bank is called Belfius these days

 

[kurczak]

Oh yeah, Dexia, how did I forget that one. Also brief googling gives up the SNS bank that has been nationalized by the Dutch recently. Obviously a tiny bank compared to DB, but so is the Netherlands compared to Germany amirite

 

[Dystopian]

Hehehe the little dutchmen.

 

[Vovolov]

Just wait 'till Wilders wins any sort of election. You won't see our blitzkrieg coming.

 

[Captured Joe]

We only got some borrowed German Leopards tho

We will sink them in our polders to demoralize the enemy when the war starts!

 

[Dryvus]

Hehehe the little dutchmen.

But Dutch people are really tall...

 

[crodio]

they are tall to hide their ontological littleness

 

[Temujin]

There's a political storm in tiny Belgium.

Since June this Chinese company "state grid" was trying to buy 14% of Eandis which is the Belgian gas and electricity network of distributors. Anyway only this week did it really make the news ad it's causing some drama, the energy minister (Bart Tommelein from the open VLD) was first very much for this wonderful deal, but then changed his mind because he received "new information" and well public opinion is opposed to the idea of giving a Chinese state company stake in our gas and electricity network.

This new information the minister and some others in this matter received turned out to be a letter by the national intelligence agency

http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.2779200


Apparently Australia also refused a deal with State grid for national security reasons.


Meanwhile the CEO of Eandis is still convinced it's a good deal and he wants to go through with it

 

[Austupaio]

Can't say I understand the concern, for Australia China is a current and active military threat. For Belgium? Hardly.

 

[AWdeV]

Everything's a threat for Belgium.

 

[Vovolov]

Belgium's a threat to everyone. We need to act fast and reclaim Vlaanderen.

 

[Temujin]

In reaction to national security sending that nota to several minsters, The Flemish minster president Geert Bourgois of the NVA sugested the prime minister should look at National security for future funding cuts.


How can you say such a thing as minister president.

 

[tegalad]

Geert Bourgois of the NVA

At least he's not VC, the ** bastard.

EDIT: ** redacted on second though.

 

[Arvenski]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Major-Train-Accident-in-Hoboken-Injuries-Reported-395249051.html

New Jersey train crashes into station; at least 3 dead, and up to 100 injured.

 

[Dystopian]

I remember telling people how scary taking the train down the Hudson is. The tracks are literally only a meter or so away from the water and it could easily plunge straight in if derailed. I was laughed at for being an idiot except accidents like that happen somewhat frequently in the Tri-State area.

 

[Temujin]

Yeah, but a bank this large is not island unto itself. If you just let it collapse as a punishment, it's like ripping out an unhealthy organ out of the body as a "punishment". Maybe sometimes it is necessary, but it should be the last resort with contingency plans, not a "meh whatever, **** it" go-to response.

I would rather see it nationalized than go bankrupt.

I saw this interesting visualisation today

It's how exposed other banks are to Deutsche, Blue are European banks, Green are Asian banks, and purple are the Americans. The darker the arrow the more linked the bank/institutuion is to Deutsche bank.

Apparently Deutsche could become a second Lehman and tank the economy yet again if they have to pay the absurdly high fine


EDIT: sidenote I notice my bank isn't mentioned in that chart 

 

[Untitled.]

So I should take out all my money from Nordea, is that what the graph is saying?

 

[Lumos]

Holy ****, RBS is in there too.