Juggling Dynamite

In all the coverage of the 10th anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis, one lasting legacy, too little noted, is the contagion of financial crimes and fraud that have plagued us since.  See: A Denver attorney still cleaning up Lehman mortgage mess:

“Some people committed fraud because they could get away with it. But many of the borrowers were buying into an American Dream that was beyond their means. Greed and hope combined with disastrous consequences…

They thought they owned these homes, but after working three jobs, liquidating their 401(k)s, eventually getting a divorce from the financial stress, and moving in with their parents at 42 years old, it was obvious that the home owned them, not the other way around.

…After witnessing first hand what caused the thousands of stress fractures that sent Lehman tumbling down a decade ago, Carrington worries it is only a matter of time before it happens all over again.

‘Hardly anyone got prosecuted, and that suggests that there’s little risk in folks running these same plays,’ he said.”

As with every nascent sector and new business model, the cannibis space is rife with unknowns and enormous risk for would-be investors.  Even less understood perhaps, is that there are also personal mobility risks that come with owning shares in the companies. Believe it or not.  See For Canadian marijuana investors, coming to the US is a ‘crapshoot’ that can end in a lifetime ban:

“…U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, overseeing border operations — told Politico in an interview published Thursday that border agents would still seek to permanently ban any foreign visitor who admits to working or investing in the cannabis industry, or admits to have taken the drug, even after recreational marijuana use becomes legal in Canada on Oct. 17.

MarketWatch confirmed that stance in an email exchange with a CBP spokeswoman, who said investors could face a permanent ban from entering the U.S.

“Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. states and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under U.S. federal law,” spokeswoman Stephanie Malin said in a statement.

For more watch this direct video link.

Many salient points in this clip.   Here is a direct video link.

Also see The Bailouts for the Rich are Why America is so Screwed Right Now for some further historical context on how financial crisis and resulting lack of trust in the status quo have repeatedly led to populist uprising and autocratic leaders.