asx - the mini-me of global greed...

In many ways the ASX is representative of the wider western financial system...

It is a mess of conflicting interest, short-term focus, ulterior motive and generally, making money for the sake of money...it is a mini-me of the wider global financial system.

I am disgusted by the ASX's support of the insidious automated trading platforms, whose very existence has nothing to do with growth, or development, or protecting the companies listed on the exchange...and certainly has nothing to do with maintaining a healthy engine room to power national growth...and everything to do with value stripping from the Companies listed thereon, and ultimately, the Australian population, for the benefit of a small elite group of financial pariah's.

These are the people whose greed directly caused the GFC.

The financial market's role of being the engine room of world economic growth, or even simply being representative thereof, has long been replaced with a raft of new agenda, none of which are about creating anything beyond bank balances.

The financial tail is well and truly in control...and wagging the dog profusely.

At some point in the not so distant past, the financial "system" appears to have crossed an all important line where shearing the sheep (read the general population), has been replaced with cutting deeply into the meat...the problem being that in doing so, the wool does not grow back!

I guess the wool analogy is an appropriate reference to the Australian situation, where like the rest of the western world, we appear to have forgotten the value of actually creating things...of generating real growth, real development and real products...and fostering national pride in the process...and have become literal fat-cats gorging ourselves on the results of the hard work from those who historically toiled, and took risks, to generate the wealth the country now enjoys...on the sheeps back as it were!

China, India and even the Brazil block, are all hard at work improving their lot...and internally supporting those that do...and just as we did in the past, are creating future value and collectively improving the national wealth of their respective populations in the form of improved quality of life, but also in terms of national identity.

Sense of achievement goes a long way in generating a healthy social structure.

By contrast, the west it seems is happy to sit back on its laurels, effectively pimping off what they already have...pimping off the hard work of prior generations...to the obvious detriment of future generations...namely their children!

In relative terms, and certainly when compared to the last 60 years or so, the west is simply not creating, or building, or innovating, or developing anything of substance beyond short-sighted financial returns.

One of the few long-term value creation activities which still remains, which results in real job creation, the building of significant national infrastructure, supports communities and actually creates the raw materials needed for global growth and development, is the mining industry...and in Australia, the Rudd government wants to tax this out of existence?

lol

Sadly...the west, it appears, has peaked...courtesy of an elite group who have infiltrated every aspect of government and the global financial markets, who create nothing, and steal value from those who do.

This is a business model guaranteed to fail...and the GFC was just the first symptom of what probably amounts to a terminal illness.

There is a cure, but it will involve incising the grip this "elite group" have on every aspect of government and world finances...it must be taken now if we are to be cured...but do you really think these fat cats will inflict themselves with such medicine?

I fear the west has seen its best days.

Cheers!