(Militant No. 755, 28 June 1985, p. 7)
There are a lot of hidden swindles within big business which never see the light of day. The Times, the day before the JMB report broke, lifted a little stone to reveal the monstrous rackets of big business in the United States.
In America at the moment headlines tell of „The age of me-first management“ and of „White-collar crime booming“ and of „new permissiveness eroding corporate morality“. It is difficult to suppress a horse-laugh at claims of „corporate morality“ in the „dollar-democracy“. Nevertheless the untrammelled rule of big business, which the Reagan administration means, has resulted in a „new frenzy to get rich“.
The Times gives just a glimpse of some of the rackets perpetrated by the monopolies. Thus the venerable Bank of Boston, a pillar of the commercial establishment was fined $500,000, (£390,000) for breaking currency laws, having failed to report $1.2 billion (£930 million) of cash dealings with foreign banks. It was further „stained“ by reports of its dealings with Boston’s leading crime family.
Godfather
These revelations come just at a time when The Godfather has been screened on TV. This film shows that the Mafia, like the early capitalists who were involved in crime and murder, is trying to legitimise itself as a pillar of American big business. It seems that in Boston the fiction of the Godfather has been realised in life with the gangsters of big business linking up with the gangsters of crime.
At the same time F Hutton, one of the country’s largest and hitherto well-respected brokers was fined $2 million (£1,560,000) for systematically cheating 400 banks by overdrawing on accounts and staying ahead of bounced cheques by overdrawing on others. The firm overdrew $10 million giving itself ‚free‘ money of $150 million (£117 million) a day.
A magazine survey also showed that America’s 500 largest corporations in the previous ten years had 115 convictions for major crime, or had paid fines for serious misbehaviour. The Times points out: „Last year the top five executives on the Charter Company, an oil and insurance firm, voted themselves bonuses of $250,000 (£195,000) each. And yet four months later the company filed for bankruptcy“.
So open has become the crime and corruption of big business that the occasional capitalist has found himself in jail. Thus Jake Butcher, a financier has just been jailed for 20 years for frauds that broke 11 banks . Ralph Nader the consumer watchdog has commented that, „the Federal cop was being taken out of the corporate beat and corporate crime moved into a higher gear.“
Conspiracy
The “Federal Cop“ has always been ineffective against the conspiracy of big business in the US. But, the rampant bribery, corruption and criminal activity of big business contrasts with the increasing poverty of millions of Americans. Many of these are evicted from their houses and don’t have jobs. Some are forced to live under bridges. Their anger has reached volcanic proportions.
A similar development, although on a smaller scale, is undoubtedly taking place in Britain and the capitalist world generally. The gap between rich and poor is growing, fuelled by the policies of Thatcher, Reagan, Kohl, etc., which is in turn determined by the crisis of capitalism.
By Peter Taaffe
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