On the one hand, I’m pleased to see a Swiss Bank take it on the chin for intentionally defrauding the U.S. Government out of at least $300 million in tax dollars over the last seven years. I’ll be even more impressed if we ever learn the names of the elite Americans that used their services. But, having said that, why is it that theft on such a massive scale brings a slap on the wrist compared to, say, what a burglar gets? Would it be unreasonable to treat the theft of $300 million as two or three times more serious than the theft of five thousand dollars, and not the other way around?
If you want to talk about populism, I think a real populist government would treat the people that ran Enron as much more dangerous and egregious criminals than a pickpocket. But I don’t hold out much hope for that kind of justice anytime soon.
