CORPORATE CROOKS AND COMMON MAN

New Year has not augured well for the world economy, with what two major global economic frauds coming to light shocking the world populace out of their fascination for greedy capitalism. Called by some the biggest fraud in corporate history, the Madoff Scam in America has with one lightning stroke wiped out billions of dollars of accumulated savings of several big trusts and also other wealthy, greedy money-savers. If it is the good old Ponzi wine in a new bottle that played havoc in the Wall Street, it is our Andhra industrial icon Raju’s obsessive greed for realty and quick buck that upset our Sensex and the perhaps up to now biggest 7000 crore rupees corporate fraud in our history is quaking the entire nation. In either case, SoS shrieks are out for State intervention to save these now ‘helpless, well-meaning, honest but somehow bungling’ tycoons in the guise of protecting the livelihoods of comfortably placed software professionals or savings of the neo-rich upstarts. In our case the hand of the corrupt politicians in power is quite patent with what thousands of crores of public moneys so liberally and hastily channelled to Satyams - straight and reversed both, but more to the latter - obviously for huge kickbacks. At this juncture the only right course would be to let Satyam declare itself bankrupt and face all the penal consequences of law instead of trying to bail it out with thousands of crores of public moneys and further damaging the economy and conditions of the vast masses by staggering inflation and financial crises. There is no need to create any state-run zombie, called Shivam or Sundaram. We do not want any socialism for the rich but genuine social welfare and development measures for the poor and needy common man. The corporate criminals and corrupt politicians should not be let walk away lightly – ‘mere few weeks or months in jail due to wealthy criminals’ would not do. We may not shoot our scamsters here but ought not to spare them in the least either §§§