Final Word from Monday, February 1, 2010
It's a bit unfair to blame mainly bankers and financiers for the global crisis, given that politicians, economists, academicians and common people share the responsibility too. But as individuals, the bankers and financiers certainly came out of the crisis better than most, even if their institutions didn't in all cases. They did this by controlling the flow of the most valuable intangible asset there is - information. Professional traders use their superior access to information to profit from the little guy at every turn. When competing against themselves, professional traders win some and lose some. But against clueless small investors, it's almost always a one-way bet. And the stock and bond markets are designed to facilitate this process. So it's no surprise that Finance Minister Eduard Janota got his wrist slapped when he tried to cut out the middlemen in the sale and trading of retail government bonds.[Czech Republic banking finances speculation Prague Stock Exchange]
Glossary of difficult words
bondman - a play on words - although it might appear to mean "someone who trades in bonds," a bondman is actually a serf or slave;
academician - scholar, teacher or intellectual;
intangible asset - not constituting or represented by a physical object and of a value not precisely measurable;
little guy - common person;
at every turn - on every occasion; continually;
clueless - have no knowledge, understanding or ability;
one-way bet - a bet on which it is not possible to lose money;
slap on the wrist - a light punishment for doing something wrong.