A few days ago I posted about five large banks being found guilty of manipulating foreign exchange rates on a massive scale, essentially defrauding customers of millions of dollars. No banker was found guilty, but the banks had to pay large fines. Presumably the fines were intended to deter such behavior in the future. Apparently, the fines did nothing. One of those banks, JP Morgan Chase, sent a letter to its foreign exchange customers that reads in part:
“As a market maker that manages a portfolio of positions for multiple counterparties’ competing interests, as well as JPMorgan’s own interests, JPMorgan acts as principal and may trade prior to or alongside a counterparty’s transaction to execute transactions for JPMorgan…”
“JPMorgan is not required to disclose to a counterparty when the counterparty attempts to leave an order that JPMorgan is handling other counterparties’ orders or JPMorgan orders ahead of, or at the same time as, or on an aggregated basis with, the counterparty’s order. JPMorgan is under no obligation to disclose to a counterparty why JPMorgan is unable to execute the counterparty’s order in whole or in part, provided that JPMorgan will be truthful if we agree to disclose such information.”
Essentially, the letter means that JP Morgan does not feel obliged to disclose to its foreign exchange customers when its own interests are in direct conflict with the interests of its customers, and JP Morgan does not need to disclose when it executes foreign exchange trades that undermine the financial interests of their customers. As described by Pam and Russ Martens:
“According to the Bank for International Settlements, foreign-exchange trading reached an average $5.3 trillion a day in April 2013, making it the largest market in the world by far on a daily trading basis. It operates 24 hours a day across all time zones. Reuters reports that this past January 15, when Switzerland shocked markets by removing its cap on the Swiss Franc, $9.2 trillion in transactions occurred on that day alone. How could the largest trading market in the world not be regulated? The short answer is that five of the biggest banks control more than half of that trading…”
To make matters worse, evidence has surfaced that the central bank of England was aware of the exchange rate rigging scheme as early as 2007 and took no action to stop the illegal behavior.
One of the most contentious issues when the US goes to war is whether it should use a military draft. In most wars, the US employed conscription but it always was associated with protests. The draft ended in the US during the Vietnam war (although all male citizens are expected to register for the draft when they turn 18) and the US has relied on a volunteer army and private contractors to wage its wars since then. Virtually no one wishes the draft to return (the military is especially averse to the draft), but hostility to the draft is perhaps the most compelling reason to use it. The draft almost automatically ensures that citizens will ask serious questions about going to war.
World Politics News 
About the reason the draft is no longer a consideration:.originaly the draft was no longer used was to prevent the kind of protest and demonstrations we saw against the Vietnam war but with the creation of Blackwater and whatr it is now called, the more compelling reason is the millions or billions of dollars that are being made using contractors instead of the U.S, military.
Emma Ferguson 2010
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I suspect that if the draft were reinstated, the issue of money would be less important than the reasons for going to war and the sense that the war was worth American lives.
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