TOO BIG

You know... the more I think about this banking crisis, the angrier I get. When WAMU went under last week, JP Morgan was the benefactor that came in, bought them out and saved the day - at least that is how it appeared on the surface. The government did not have to come in and pay through the nose to keep all those people employed and prevent the taxpayers from footing the bill; however, JP Morgan is another one of those tremendously large companies. So what happens if JP Morgan goes under in six months??? Unless someone else dumb enough to spend billions buying a failing business purchases them, then what?? Will JP Morgan continue the same practices that got us here in the first place?

Not everybody is going to pay you back.

Not everybody is going to maintain a job.

Not everybody cares about their credit rating.

This is why we have credit ratings and credit checks. USE THEM, PEOPLE!!

You do not need an MBA to know...

No credit - loan in small amounts... see how they do with it.

Bad credit - THINK TWICE, THINK SMALL.

Capitolism is a great system. It encourages people to strive to do better, but it needs limits. Companies like Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, JP Morgan, Exxon, Chase Manhattan, etc... the list goes on and on. They are so huge that if anyone of those failed and went under today, the fallout would be disasterous. Just think for a minute about the number of people that depend on these companies for work, the effect on the stock market and the domino effect that could follow- other businesses depend on these big ones for their business. At least if these businesses were forced to franchise, instead of going public with stock, each location (ie. Wal-Mart) would operate, sink or swim, independent of the others. If one failed, the others and the overall economy would be uneffected. The failing store and its owner/operator would be out on his or her rear end and there would be no "golden parachutes".



If one failing bank is so big that it effects the entire country's financial stability, then something is seriously wrong. If the leadership in this country continues to do the "same old - same old" - it is exactly like pulling the peanut butter and jelly out of the cupboard daily and expecting a ham sandwich to eventually pop out of your ingredients. Companies need to be downsized small enough that they do not have the potential to set off a fiscal panic through the entire U.S. It seems that these businesses have evolved into monopolies and have entirely too much influence over the economy and the legislature.



"In 1912, the United States Steel Corporation, which controlled more than half of all the steel production in the United States, was accused of being a monopoly. Legal action against the corporation dragged on until 1920 when, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. Steel was not a monopoly because it did not engage in "unreasonable" restraint of trade. The court drew a careful distinction between bigness and monopoly, and suggested that corporate bigness is not necessarily bad."



This decision in 1920 could not have anticipated the explosion of big business that was years down the road. Quite frankly, the 1920 Supreme Court was wrong. It is that very "bigness" in business that has us where we are today. The taxpayers are becoming active particpants in what should be private enterprise. Instead of being the referees, they are the players. This is not the role of government. They need to figure out how to fix the problem instead of perpetuating it by enabling the wrongdoers to escape the inevitable failure of loaning money to EVERYBODY. The "unreasonable" restraint of trade referred to by the Supreme Court is something Wal-Mart has been accused of several times and by numerous entities, but still nothing has been done.



I used Wal-Mart as an example, but they are by no means the only offender. There are many of these huge conglomerates, some of which you have probably never heard of unless you are an investor, but they are out there and our economy could be jeopardized by any one of them.



Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice. shame on ME!