CONNED BY CAPITALISM

One of the defences of capitalism that socialists often encounter is that capitalism is an extremely complex system and workers need clever capitalists to run this sophisticated system. "Some of the world's biggest banks have revealed they are victims of an alleged fraud which has lost $50bn (£33bn). Bernard Madoff has been charged with fraud in what is being described as one of the biggest-ever such cases. Among the banks which have been hit are Britain's HSBC and RBS, Spain's Santander and France's BNP Paribas. One of the City's best-known fund managers has criticised US financial regulators for failing to detect the alleged fraud. Nicola Horlick, boss of Bramdean investments, told the BBC: "I think now it is very difficult for people to invest in things that are meant to be regulated in America, because they have fallen down on the job." "This is the biggest financial scandal, probably in the history of the markets - $50bn is a huge amount of money," she said. " (BBC News, 15 December) RD
So all those wise capitalists who know all about markets and investments haven't a clue about capitalism after all. Maybe socialists have a point then?