SEEMS LIKE JUST YESTERDAY YOU WERE PRETENDING THEY ARE PEOPLE:

Fining companies for malpractice is not enough. Fraud and incompetence undermines the whole market system. And it damages real people, like the pensioners robbed of interest by the low Libor number and cities like Baltimore that lost millions on interest-rate swaps.

Wrongdoing should be investigated: not by regulators, or panels of posturing politicians, or costly and long-winded public inquiries--but by the police and the Serious Fraud Office. And if it turns out that junior executives acted fraudulently and senior executives let them, or if regulators and politicians actually encouraged it, offenders should face fines and long-term disqualification.

Where fines are levied, it is generally on corporations rather than individuals, which means that shareholders and customers (and indeed taxpayers) end up paying instead of those actually responsible.

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