wheres all the money go?

The Alberton Papers Vol. VI, #II
By Dick Darne 4-1-08
"Can you hear me now?" came the voice of our old friend and consultant, Professor Sven Berkowitz, from the North Dakota Institute of Financial Technology.
"Yeah, real good," someone said. "I guess Dick’s ‘lo-tech’ phone system pieced together with Goodwill cordless phones must be working."
"Ah, wunnerful, wunnerful!"replied Professor Berkowitz. "Just call me Sven, just don’t call me late for lunch, I hear you have good cooks up at your Senior Citizens’ lunch. Maybe we could even finagle a ‘mid morning snicker-snack’, eh. You have some questions, maybe about where all the money goes, huh?"
"Well, we were all wondering, just where the money goes when we hear about a big company going bankrupt, or big losses on wall street, stuff like that." asked Bill.
"Well, one of the first things we teach here at Nodak U, is that figures don’t lie, but liars figure." Answered Sven. The next thing is that the boodle doesn’t just vaporize into the air, but rather tends to wind up in someone’s pocket or offshore bank account. Then one should always remember that when the market fluctuates, some gain and some lose, but a few always seem to gain, those who have ‘insider knowledge’ are severely tempted and even if it is against the law, one or more of the seven deadly sins usually wins out."
"How about that big company, Bear- Stearns, how could a company that big fail?" asked Johnny.
"Greed, mostly" answered Sven. "Of course, the muckity-mucks at the top will make out, albeit in somewhat diminished opulence. they were all ‘free-marketeers’,but what that actually means is they keep the profits , but pass as many costs as possible on to someone else, like as not the taxpayer."
"What about this ‘stimulus payment’ about to be mailed out, do you think that will help?" asked Todd
"Ah, glad you asked that" replied Sven. "Mostly it will be used to buy cheap plastic crap from the likes of Wal-Mart. Mostly it will go to China and to obscene compensation for their executives. Boost for them, gone and over for us. Probably get the checks just before the election, but I think people are not as dumb as some would believe."
"Let me add to that," exclaimed Gno. Those practices have been the norm for most corporations for a long time. They have lobbied hard to make the practices legal, still shameful, but hey, as they proudly proclaim, greed is good. If they actually had any shame, we would be hearing a coast to coast moan as they all committed simultaneous ritual sepuku. If the people had real cojones they would do it for them. They are truly America’s enemies. They pocket the profits and when things go sour, take the handout."
"There you have it, boys, now you know about the ‘Vile Maxim of the Masters.’ gotta go now, gotta get over and check on our study of Alvinville. Always wunnerful to talk to you boys, call me anytime and keep thinking."
I have to go now too, I have to call cousin Freddie about our education. dd