[A-List] War Criminals and Economic Criminals

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There is a general rule about the way society treats criminals: to place
responsibility of anti-social acts on the individual, thus absolving
society from blame.  The mismatch between society's attitude toward
heros and criminals rests in society's claim of credit on heros while
rejecting responsibility on criminals.  A criminal is one who has
betrayed societal values, who is deranged but not legally insane, a
deviant, an anomaly, a manifestation of social disease, a virus against
the system, a malfunction.  Hitler was labeled a mad man to protect
German culture and fascism, notwithstanding the curious fact that Hitler
rose to pwere in Germany for very visible cultural reasons.  Even
organized warfare must be conducted within the limits of regulated
behavior.  Crimes against humanity are not tolerated.  Yet market
fundamenatlism argues to dereuglation to allow economic crimes against
humanity.  Ponzi was deemed an unprincipled con man to insulate
capitalism itself from being reveal a a systemic ponzi scheme.  The oral
barrage that the 21 members of Senate Committee unleashed on Kenneth Lay
yesterday amounted to wholesale trampling of Lay's constitutional
rights.  The issue of Lay's guilt or innocence is a matter for the
judiaciary branch and Lay's right to avoid self incrimination is
fundamental to American justice.  The same senators were not skittish
about having their pictures taken with Lay or accepting vast sums in
political contribution from Kenneth Lay and his company and
consultants.  Senator Peter Fitzgerald,  Republican of Illinois,
comparing Lay to Charles Ponzi, labeled him worse than a carnival
barker, for a carni will at least "tell you up front that he's running a
shell game."  Is Senator Fitzgerald telling the nation that deregulated
market fundamentalism is a shell game?  The evidence is undenaible that
Enron exposed weaknesses in the entire system for policing American
capital markets.  Arthus Levitt, former head of SEC, characterizes
corporate financial statements as a Potemkin village of deceit."
Senator and Chairman  Ernest  Hollings, Democrat of South Carolina
characterized Lay's political poweress as "cash and carry government".
The NY Times this morning reports that Hollings received over $20K from
Enron and Arthur Andersen from 1989.  Until Enron filed bankruptcy, the
system;s top law firms and accounting firms were prociding opinion that
what went on in Enron was "technical" legal.  Much of the schemes
unertaken by Enron and other companies were devised by investment
bankers who collect fat fees advising their clients and profited
handsomely from providing financing for scheme they knew were towers of
mirage. It was known in the industry as finance enegineering.   Already,
the prevaling view in the legal professions is that the beleaguered
Enron executives will most likely not be convicted for economic crimes,
only criminal liabilities arising from perjury, conspiracy and
obstruction of justice.

Co-incidentally, the NY Times carried today an obituary on Victor Posner
whose financial dealings landed himself, Ivan Boskey and Michael Milkin
in jail over technial criminality, but not for the violent damage their
good work did to the system.

Henry C.K. Liu