The poet William Stafford set himself the task of writing a poem a day. When someone asked him what he would do when his poem-of-the-day wasn't very good, he replied "I simply lower my standards." In order to increase output, the bar here is set at a low level - the point of this is to have some fun with current events and politics. I welcome contributions and comments. Now you can also follow Doggerelo on Twitter (@doggerelo). Because of continuing medical problems, I'm no longer able to post a poem-a-day. I'll continue to post poems, but at a reduced frequency, so please stay tuned.

Friday, May 11, 2012

J. P. Morgan Gambles Away $2 Billion


J. P. Morgan, the biggest American bank, disclosed yesterday that it had lost $2 billion dollars in hedging trades similar to the type of activity that brought on the Great Recession of 2008.  The Volker Rule, one of the new regulations to be imposed on financial institutions, forbids banks from making bets with their own money. 

The biggest bank is J. P. Morgan
It’s a hugely complex org, and
Takes your money to play the slots
(They call it hedging) but there’s lots
Of risk for those who play the game
And when the losses come they blame
Some underling within the bank
Who put the comp’ny in the tank.
But actually it seems to me
A ban on gambling there should be
Especially if we have to bail
Out banks that are “to big to fail”.
Reformers who were in the know
Now declare “We told you so”.
So let’s enact the Volker rules
To keep our money safe from fools.

No comments: