POINT OF VIEW from Page 6
“…So basically,” he writes, ‘Morgan Stanley found a bunch
of investors, including themselves, to put up over a billion dollars in December 2008; a big chunk of those investors then bailed out tomakeway in February 2009 forDeeside Investments,whichwas 49.9% owned by (a subsidiary of the government-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) and 50.1% owned by a company calledRedoma SARL, aboutwhich nothingwas known except that it had an address in Luxembourg.…’ “Taibbi calls this a ‘bait and switch’pulled byMorgan Stanley
on Chicago,” the AtlanticWire article says. “He explains why this is about more than just parking meters. Now, if city officials want to do anything thatmight disrupt parkingmeter revenue – let’s say, close down parking for a street festival or parade – they need to get the approval of those meters’ shadowy foreign owners,” the article continues. “They also need approval to change parking hours or fees. The new ownership has already made unwelcome changes, ending the previous policy of allowing free parking on holidays. “But not only did Chicago cede the operation of an entire seg-
ment of the city to mysterious private investors, Taibbi says they could have gotten four times as much money for it, up to $5 bil- lion,” the article says. Now I’m not sure about the city of Chicago having to go to
the Emirates to get permission to hold a parade; that’s a bit of a stretch. However, my guess is that if theAD InvestmentAuthority put in a substantial amount of money, they will most likely have someone sitting on the boardwhowill be interestedwhen amoney decision ismade.
It’sChristmastime (orwhatever you celebrate this time of year
– Chanukah – I can remember only the ones that have been around for at least 2,000 years), and Iwould like towish you the very best of the holiday season. Times seemto be tough, but they aren’t so bad if you compare
your lot with those less fortunate around the world. The poor inAmerica, unfortu- nate as they are, live well compared with the poor in most other countries.We are truly blessed.
PT
If you Follow JVH on Twitter (jvhpt)
You will see all his blogs and All news articles posted Daily
On PT’s web site
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48