If it's legal, is it cheating?

[ebacon]

Pete's comment made me laugh. Here's another one from the "if it's legal, is it cheating" file.

Imagine this situation. Is it cheating?

Company A is in a bad financial situation. They have a financial audit coming up and need to get some loser deals off their books.

They call Company B and say hey, we are between a rock and hard spot. If we fail our audit then the interest rate increases on our loans. Do you happen to have some good assets you can loan us for a while? Company B does have some good assets in their portfolio and agrees to swap them for Company A's bad assets plus a fee. They also agree to swap the assets back after the audit.

Company A passes the audit and gets a good rating because of the assets they rented from Company B. They use the good rating to borrow more money and pay their executives bonuses for doing a great job. Afterwards they swap the good assets back to Company B as agreed. The economy then turns down slightly and Company A's bad assets tank. They are forced into bankruptcy and the bank that made the last loan gets nothing.

You are the CEO of the bank. Do you feel cheated?

You are CEO Company B and want to keep your fee for loaning the good assets to Company A. If the bankruptcy judge clawed back your fee would you feel cheated?

You are Ayn Rand and don't believe feelings have a role in business. You invested in Company A after a rational analysis of their SEC filings including their Annual Report. Despite that effort you lose all of your investment in Company A. Do you feel cheated?

[BlueStreak]

My old man once told me;

"There are things in life that might be perfectly legal. But, if you do it, you're an ass anyways."

I trust in his wisdom, it has yet to fail me.

Dave

[ebacon]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

My old man once told me;

"There are things in life that might be perfectly legal. But, if you do it, you're an ass anyways."

I trust in his wisdom, it has yet to fail me.

Dave

The irony in the example is that the swap process was illegal. The financial community fixed the problem. They lobbied to make it legal. Deregulation FTW!

[piece-itpete]

Any half intelligent person maximizes their deductions.

That said in this scenario the bank did not do their job and got burned. If Company B has their fee stripped it too is on them, as they decided to loan the assets.

Pete

[BlueStreak]

So, the answer is to let preditory practices run amuck and blame the victims?

Welcome to the New World Order, eh?

Dave

[ebacon]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Any half intelligent person maximizes their deductions.

That said in this scenario the bank did not do their job and got burned. If Company B has their fee stripped it too is on them, as they decided to loan the assets.

Pete

What are you talking about with regard to deductions?

And what if you invested in Company A and lost your money. Would you feel cheated?

[ebacon]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

So, the answer is to let preditory practices run amuck and blame the victims?

Welcome to the New World Order, eh?

Dave

It's amazing how deep the brainwashing has gone. Whenever I see cold logic like Pete's I am reminded of the book "The Closing of the American Mind" and Ayn Rand's taunt -- someday Americans will discover the power of philosophy.

I don't think that she meant that in a good way.

[BlueStreak]

That woman seriously gives me the creeps. I know how that sounds, but it's true. To be honest, I've never read her books, but I've seen several interviews from the '50 and '60s.

I get the same feeling I get when I'm watching old films of Hitler ranting about "parasites" and "inferior ethnicities". I just don't see how anything good can come from it. It's not the ideologies I am comparing, they are not the same. It's the attitude that human beings are to used up, exploited and cast aside like paper plates by the wealthy and powerful. And the notion that we should accept this as "normal" or "necessary". Slap whatever label you want on it. I call it evil.

Seriously.

Dave

[merrylander]

And the GOP wants us all to vote into office as VP a man who actually believes Ayn Rand's muttering.

[barbara]

For me, the question would not be about if it's legal, but rather, is it ethical.