No different from monkeys.

In South America tribes catch monkeys by baiting a narrow-necked bottle with a nut. The bottle is secured to the ground. A monkey inserts its hand to get the nut but is unable to pull out a clenched fist holding the nut. Unable to get away, but too greedy to release the nut, the monkey is then easily killed and eaten. Bank CEOs exactly resemble such monkeys. The world has not yet recovered from the effects of the sub-prime crisis, which destroyed 2 banks, Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers and nearly brought down AIG which had insured such deals, and already JP Morgan Chase has announced a loss of $2 billion in hedging on its portfolio at its London branch. It may lose another $1 billion. Its credit rating was lowered from AA+ to A- by Fitch today and it has been put on review for future downgrades. CEO, Jamie Dimon, who has been a vocal critic of the Volcker Rule, has blamed " errors, sloppiness and bad judgement ". This was not the work of a rogue trader but a policy designed by the bank to increase profits and, in turn, bonuses of Mr Dimon and his friends on the board. Ironically, Mr Dimon has been the fiercest lobbyist against the Volcker Rule which was supposed to stop such recklessness and was successful in introducing a loophole in the Rule called portfolio hedging. This allows hedging of the entire investment portfolio as opposed to hedging against individual security or trading position so that when one goes up the other goes down. New York Times, May 12. Michigan Democrat, Carl Levin said that JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon's lobbying produced " a big enough loophole that a Mack truck could drive right through it ". He also said that portfolio hedging " is a licence to do pretty much anything ". This incident shows that 1. Corporate chiefs are motivated only by greed to the exclusion of common interest, 2. Infinite growth in profits forever is impossible, 3. Lawmakers are cowards looking to get re-elected rather than serving the electorate that they have been elected to do and finally, 4. Just as CEOs are paid humongous bonuses for generating profits they should be made to pay back any losses they make through risky trades. We have become jaded by the constant repetition by corporate bandits and back-pocket politicians that salaries and bonuses have to be stratospheric to attract the best talent. If Mr Dimon and people of his ilk are so great that banks cannot function without them surely they should have to pay back when they make a loss just as they are rewarded when they make a profit. Politicians should understand that banks should be headed by stolid, cautious chiefs who are safe and not by Flash Harrys producing money from a hat. After the sub-prime crisis politicians rushed to capitalise banks instead of supporting mortgages and savings of the people so that ordinary people lost their homes while bank chiefs continued to get millions of dollars in bonuses. Planet of the apes is already here.