Friday, June 29, 2012

Stealing On A Massive Scale

It's more than simply anti-social behavior (recognizing what that means in the UK), it's giant, massive, huge theft on an almost unimaginable scale. These are the people who need to be in jail, not nonviolent "rioters"* who stole 10 quid worth of merchandise out of a shop.

*Yes there were violent rioters as well.

As for this:

We will make sure that this system which was rigged in the favour of at least one or several institutions will be changed. I hope that … we will end up with a new regime based on actual transactions.

Looking ahead its very important that people don't expect too much from regulation. Regulation doesn't stop bad behaviour. We have to change the structure of the industry to make sure they have the right incentives.

Let's try that again and apply it to petty thieves.
Looking ahead its very important that people don't expect too much from laws. Laws don't stop bad behaviour. We have to change the structure of the economy to make sure they have the right incentives.

We lock people up for very little. When they steal massive amounts we say there's nothing to be done. How about, uh, locking people up? That's the kind of regulation which, you know, provides some incentives.