Uncategorized

Trust us

And why shouldn’t we trust them when they say they need $700 Billion? Maybethis:

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.“

And well this about covers the other reasons:

John Sherffius
Sep 24, 2008

4 thoughts on “Trust us”

  2. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
    Blink. Blink.
    Let me say that again: “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
    I think that may very well explain the entirety of the Bush era. Rule by bullshit.

  3. Actually, that “We just wanted to choose a really large number” thing makes perfect sense to me. Don’t any of you know anything aboutnegotiation, for squid’s sakes? These guys arepros at it; that’s basically what they do all day, bullshit people into buying their numbers (as we can see fromthis explanation of how stupid this crisis really is).
    The first rule of negotiation is, Always ask for more than you want. If you’re a professional bullshitter used to slinging around billions of dollars like “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking aboutreal money,” seven hundred thousand million dollars is probably a reasonable-sounding figure.
    Hell, the NYC employees of Lehman Brothers want to carve a $2.5 billion chunk out of the proposed bailout to pay themselvesbonuses, for some strange and unknown reason. Who knew being such a fuck-up you helped bankrupt your company entitled you to abonus!
    So if you’re a professional bullshitter who’s used to negotiating fast and loose, and you’re part of a culture that’s so greedy and entitled (to the point of up-is-downism), you ask for whopping amounts of money as a matter ofcourse.
    Thecorrect response to this is a measured, negotiator’s version of “Are you out of your fucking mind?” and a response that includes absolutely draconian sanctions and regulations, to the point where when you finally do settle, you’ve got a regulatory structure you can live with, and the greedy bank assholes feel like they’re getting away with something.

Comments are closed.