Inesis Feiferis, an experienced banker who recently resigned as head of the Latvian Mortgage and Land Bank (Latvijas Hipotēku un zemes banka) told the portal Delfi that "many democratic norms should be restricted" during the present economic crisis.
In the article, the ex-banker, who was involved in the state takover of crisis-ridden Parex Bank (it was formally made a subsidiary of the state-owned Mortgage and Land Bank) does not elaborate on which norms he meant. However, freedom of speech, the press and assembly do come to mind as core democratic norms and values.
Feiferis seems to suggest that a government with emergency powers should be formed to adopt unpopular measures quickly and without needless discussion. Whether this means there would be censorship or punishment of media criticism of such measures is unclear. The apparent lack of aggressive questioning of the ex-banker by Delfi's reporters is yet another example of the spotty reporting on this site.
So I will give Inesis Feiferis the benefit of the doubt. When he resigned, Feiferis seemed to imply that he was tired, perhaps burned out by the demands of his job at the Mortgage and Land Bank, especially after the Parex rescue.
The statement on restricting democratic norms is so batshit on its face that I do suspect it is the careless chatter of a burnout. Take a needed rest.
Showing posts with label economic crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economic crisis. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, November 24, 2008
An outside comment from Mr. J. Fear :)
I got this interesting comment from someone who uses the name Jānis Bailes (or John Fear):
The actions of the state police against people speaking out on the economic and political situation bring to mind three possibilities.
1. The political class wants to cover up the impending economic crisis so that they can convert all their ill-gotten assets into cash/Swiss bank accounts before the average person figures out what is coming.
2. The state security institutions are pursuing a 'business as usual' approach to anybody that says anything the political class doesn't like.
3. The secret police have some rougue units that are acting out of their authority.
Well, let us do a little Sherlock Holmes deduction.
The third possibility can not be true because these kinds of suppression of freedom of speech have been going on for years (since the last independence). If the third possibility were true, then we should see an investigation of the secret police under the laws for instigating a financial crisis. Surely anybody that learns of what they are doing will really believe that they are trying cover up a real crisis that is coming.
The second possibility could be true, but is not a builder of confidence because any political and economic system built on suppression of free speech and transparency can not be durable. Free speech and transparency are fundamentals of capitalistic systems that recover from market shocks. The second possibility predicts continuous extreme economic and political crisis.
The first possibility has the best chance of being true. Think back to the days of Bank of Baltija when all the politicians withdrew their deposits just before the bank closed and cost the average Latvians $400 million dollars in losses. The political class certainly knows how to look after themselves and you can be sure that they have already moved all the cash they can to their offshore accounts.
Sincerely,
Janis Bailes
The actions of the state police against people speaking out on the economic and political situation bring to mind three possibilities.
1. The political class wants to cover up the impending economic crisis so that they can convert all their ill-gotten assets into cash/Swiss bank accounts before the average person figures out what is coming.
2. The state security institutions are pursuing a 'business as usual' approach to anybody that says anything the political class doesn't like.
3. The secret police have some rougue units that are acting out of their authority.
Well, let us do a little Sherlock Holmes deduction.
The third possibility can not be true because these kinds of suppression of freedom of speech have been going on for years (since the last independence). If the third possibility were true, then we should see an investigation of the secret police under the laws for instigating a financial crisis. Surely anybody that learns of what they are doing will really believe that they are trying cover up a real crisis that is coming.
The second possibility could be true, but is not a builder of confidence because any political and economic system built on suppression of free speech and transparency can not be durable. Free speech and transparency are fundamentals of capitalistic systems that recover from market shocks. The second possibility predicts continuous extreme economic and political crisis.
The first possibility has the best chance of being true. Think back to the days of Bank of Baltija when all the politicians withdrew their deposits just before the bank closed and cost the average Latvians $400 million dollars in losses. The political class certainly knows how to look after themselves and you can be sure that they have already moved all the cash they can to their offshore accounts.
Sincerely,
Janis Bailes
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