When Bankers Were Good

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

Ian Hislop presents an entertaining and provocative film about the colourful Victorian financiers whose spectacular philanthropy shows that banking wasn't always associated with greed or self-serving financial recklessness.

Victorian bankers achieved wealth on a scale never envisaged by previous generations, but many of them were far from comfortable about their new-found riches, which caused them intense soul-searching amidst furious national debate about the moral purpose of money and its potential to corrupt.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl1QQ-jX7nI

[chad]

bankers were never good, they were just less shitty.

[madfranks]

bankers were never good, they were just less shitty.

I disagree, somewhat. In the closest thing to a free market in banking we've ever had, during the 19th century, when the money was sound, banks operated just like any other merchant would. The most successful banks were the most honest.

In a modern, theoretical laize faire market, banks would have to compete for business just like any other, and you'd have good, honest banks with good customer service and sound policies, and the crappy banks that would go out of business.

[sirgonzo420]

I disagree, somewhat. In the closest thing to a free market in banking we've ever had, during the 19th century, when the money was sound, banks operated just like any other merchant would. The most successful banks were the most honest.

In a modern, theoretical laize faire market, banks would have to compete for business just like any other, and you'd have good, honest banks with good customer service and sound policies, and the crappy banks that would go out of business.


The difference is that today, the banking system operates on fraud, imagination and "confidence".

In the past, there was substance.

[FreeEnergy]

I disagree, somewhat. In the closest thing to a free market in banking we've ever had, during the 19th century, when the money was sound, banks operated just like any other merchant would. The most successful banks were the most honest.

Riiiiiight. I am weeping.

And during that beautiful fairy tale time the largest banks became Rothschilds, Bank of England and the rest of the fractional reserve fraud gang.

The honest banks get the shaft. The fractional reserve crooks get to own everything. It is laws of mathematics.

[madfranks]

Riiiiiight. I am weeping.

And during that beautiful fairy tale time the largest banks became Rothschilds, Bank of England and the rest of the fractional reserve fraud gang.

The honest banks get the shaft. The fractional reserve crooks get to own everything. It is laws of mathematics.

The Rothschilds, central banking and fractional reserve lending are not market phenomenon. They only come about because governments want a piece of the action and legalize the theft. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of our modern banking and monetary system, I'm just stating that in a theoretical true free market, things like the Rothschilds, central banks, & fractional reserve lending would not exist.

[FreeEnergy]

agree.

except I do not believe in theoretical concept of true free markets, because they don't exist.

as soon as someone cries wolf for free market, watch out for a monopoly or lobby forming that will make sure only them profit the most. IMHO, free markets collapse into monopolies when the largest player buys out everyone else, and then into oligarchies and kleptocracy, it is a natural progression.

[gunDriller]

when the settlers first came to the US, before the Jew Banksters came, presumably there were some banks ?

"First Pilgrim" or something.

maybe they were good ?

[sirgonzo420]

when the settlers first came to the US, before the Jew Banksters came, presumably there were some banks ?

"First Pilgrim" or something.

maybe they were good ?

The jews came over with Columbus!

http://www.jbuff.com/c100903.htm

[Golden]

Cue tar and feather pic...

[Hatha Sunahara]

Madfranks got it right. What we've had in America since 1913 has been a conspiracy between the Money Power (Bankers) and the government. The government granted them the power to create the money it borrows. The government then passed the 16th amendment (with questionable process) so they could raise money to pay the bankers interest on all the money they were going to borrow by taxing the incomes of the people. And then they used all that money they borrowed for things the people did not want and could not afford. Things such as WWI and WWII, and all the corporate resource wars like Vietnam and Iraq since then. And in the process, they set a bad example for the American people, who now individually borrow money to buy things they can't afford. And most of us are so corrupted by money, that we would chuck our moral compasses for a steady paycheck. So that we can repay what we borrowed from the bankers. Today's banksters don't deserve their wealth. It is a combination of two sins: usury and monopoly. The government gave them their monopoly.

I suppose you could look back and with the same logic conclude that the politicians of yesteryear were somehow better than today's politicians. The whole world was better back then than it is today. Really, it was. A lot fewer lunatics in power.


Hatha

[Twisted Titan]

The only time a banker was good was when the lending and circulation of money was local.

That way if they were caught doing something forbidden he was quickly dealth with by the locals.


The lynch mob and the noose were the tools that kept the banker honest.

[madfranks]

The only time a banker was good was when the lending and circulation of money was local.

That way if they were caught doing something forbidden he was quickly dealth with by the locals.


The lynch mob and the noose were the tools that kept the banker honest.

Here's a perfect example. Back in the 1860's in Denver, there was a private bank and mint called Clark Gruber and Company. They privately minted gold coins and offered local banking services. Their gold coins were of better quality and tended to be heavier than federally minted gold coins, so much so that they immediately gained market trust and their coins became the dominant form of money in the Denver area for a long time. I consider the Clark Gruber & Co. bank & mint to be one of the last good honest banks.

http://www.rfrajola.com/mayergold/mayergold.htm#Clark%20Gruber%20&%20Company,%20Bank%20and%20Mint

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