http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/jail-time-for-wall-st-crime-senate-weighs-deterrents/#preview
Cyrus Sanati writes today about the Senate considering Jail time for Goldman Sachs employees.
In watching the Senate hearings, I believe Senators did not ask the right questions.They failed to deeply understand the nature of the business. Banking/finance/and secondary has anachronisms that perhaps hide from general public language to abbreviate models. I should have mailed some cue cards to Arlen Specter.
If a law is passed that a broker dealer has to disclose all trading positions (short or long) would it stop an investor from touching what they believe is gold? Maybe not.
If the accounting is rigged or there is fraud, then yes punishment is in order.
Does jail time deter anyone? Violent crimes occur in death penalty states.
These high achieving personalities are about success measured in dollars. Huge financial penalties might be a bigger deterrent. Make the fines usurious, bankruptcy remote and put them on the chain gang?
I'm not Mike Whitney and I love Prada shoes, so I hope the reform is orderly.