Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Citigroup and JPMorgan Settle With EU Commission for Rigging Libor; U.S. Justice Department Stays Mum

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Citigroup and JPMorgan Settle With EU Commission for Rigging Libor; U.S. Justice Department Stays Mum

Click here to access article by Pam Martens from Wall Street on Parade.

About all I understand about the Libor scandal is that the banks were caught lying about the rates they charge each other, that this was done mostly to increase their profits, and resulted in increased costs for consumers in the form of higher interest they pay on loans.

In contrast to European banking regulating agencies, the US Justice Department has yet to file any charges against US banks for their participation in this scandal. She asks, why? I think this fact is only one more indication of who really rules the US and its Empire. The key players in US major banking institutions are also the key players in what I often refer to as a "shadow government".