If we thought of farming like we do global finance: Joe and Ronald each own a cow. Instead of milking the cows and selling dairy, they use each other's cow as collateral for a structured note sold to an Icelandic pension fund, use the funds to buy credit default swaps on their neighbor's farm, start a rumor that causes a run on its assets and sends the farm into bankruptcy, collect the payout, funnel the proceeds through a Luxembourg shell company, and sell hypothetical milk futures to a widow in Arizona. The cows just stand in a field and moo. Joe and Ronald make $34.9 million a year.
If we checked our physical health as much as we check our portfolios: Ryan wakes up in the morning and checks his blood pressure. He checks it again before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, and before leaving for work. When he gets to work he checks his cholesterol, again before lunch, and twice before bedtime. During one of the four times he weighs himself during the day the notices he lost a quarter of a pound. He calls his doctor to find out what the hell is going on.
If we thought of farming like we do global finance: Joe and Ronald each own a cow. Instead of milking the cows and selling dairy, they use each other's cow as collateral for a structured note sold to an Icelandic pension fund, use the funds to buy credit default swaps on their neighbor's farm, start a rumor that causes a run on its assets and sends the farm into bankruptcy, collect the payout, funnel the proceeds through a Luxembourg shell company, and sell hypothetical milk futures to a widow in Arizona. The cows just stand in a field and moo. Joe and Ronald make $34.9 million a year.
If we checked our physical health as much as we check our portfolios: Ryan wakes up in the morning and checks his blood pressure. He checks it again before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, and before leaving for work. When he gets to work he checks his cholesterol, again before lunch, and twice before bedtime. During one of the four times he weighs himself during the day the notices he lost a quarter of a pound. He calls his doctor to find out what the hell is going on.
If we checked our physical health as much as we check our portfolios: Ryan wakes up in the morning and checks his blood pressure. He checks it again before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast, and before leaving for work. When he gets to work he checks his cholesterol, again before lunch, and twice before bedtime. During one of the four times he weighs himself during the day the notices he lost a quarter of a pound. He calls his doctor to find out what the hell is going on.
