An Empty Threat

As tempting as it may be for them, I can't imagine too many of the swine leaving with their piles of money.  What good would it be to be the biggest accumulator of linen paper and numbers where the cannot consume as conspicuously as possible?

Of course, it's fun to imagine where they would end up if Reich is right:

Two weeks ago, after the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (a global financial regulatory oversight body) came up with a new set of rules to toughen bank capital and liquidity requirements, European officials threatened to get even tougher. They approved a new system of European regulatory bodies with added powers to ban certain financial products or activities in times of market stress.

This prompted Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, to issue - in the words of the Financial Times - "a clear warning that the bank could shift its operations around the world if the regulatory crackdown becomes too tough."

Blankfein told a European financial conference that while Europe remains of vital importance to Goldman (with less than half of the bank's business now generated in the U.S.), the introduction of "mismatched regulation" across different regions would tempt banks to search out the cheapest and least intrusive jurisdiction in which to operate.

"Operations can be moved globally and capital can be accessed globally," he said.

So the race to the bottom is now official. Wall Street will set up its casino wherever financial gambling is least regulated.

The obvious initial answer is Somalia.  With Blackwater or Xe or whatever they're calling themselves now providing the most inhumane cover possible for their masters.

Another option would be even more ironic - Russia.  Within 10 years, we could be back in our comfortably terrifying bipolar world...actually at 'war' with the financial giants of the earth.

At least it would be obvious, in that case...

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