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Let's Not Conceal the Criminal Dimension of the Financial Crisis
Two articles in French
Ne pas occulter la dimension criminelle de la crise financière (Le Figaro)
and
Crise économique et criminalité (Les Echos)
English Translations here
and
Two articles in French
Ne pas occulter la dimension criminelle de la crise financière (Le Figaro)
and
Crise économique et criminalité (Les Echos)
English Translations here
Jean-François Gayraud, divisional commissioner of the National Police, and Noël Pons, adviser at the Central Service for the Prevention of Corruption, establish a connection between criminality and the financial crisis.
No one contests that the subprime crisis has both structural (the orgy of credit) and cyclical (the bursting of the real estate bubble in the United States) dimensions. However, no one appears to see the criminal aspects of this globalized financial crisis. A surprising omission, since history teaches us that all financial crises "contain" a criminal dimension, either by the intrusion of organized crime, or by the repetition of criminal operations committed by normal market actors; and sometimes also through the association of these two universes. In our comments, we desire neither to reduce a systemic crisis to gangsterism, nor to flush out any improbable scapegoats, but rather are concerned to remind everyone that crime - whether organized or not - infiltrates everywhere where money reigns, including the financial markets.
No one contests that the subprime crisis has both structural (the orgy of credit) and cyclical (the bursting of the real estate bubble in the United States) dimensions. However, no one appears to see the criminal aspects of this globalized financial crisis. A surprising omission, since history teaches us that all financial crises "contain" a criminal dimension, either by the intrusion of organized crime, or by the repetition of criminal operations committed by normal market actors; and sometimes also through the association of these two universes. In our comments, we desire neither to reduce a systemic crisis to gangsterism, nor to flush out any improbable scapegoats, but rather are concerned to remind everyone that crime - whether organized or not - infiltrates everywhere where money reigns, including the financial markets.
While it constitutes a major risk for business, the present crisis represents a dangerous opportunity for organized crime. From Japanese Yakuzas to Mexican cartels, criminal organizations have one single objective. Their profits arise, of course, from the development of the criminal economy, but also from a growing penetration of the legal economy which the present conjuncture risks accelerating.
The criminal economy developed by these organizations rests on two essential activities: production and predation. That which they are generally known for consists of producing all kinds of illicit substances and developing innumerable traffics: drugs, weapons, cigarettes, human beings, animals, organs, waste, art objects ... In parallel, organized crime is a discreet but constant predator on governments, companies and individuals by the practice of extortion, theft, fraud, kidnapping for ransom, piracy, counterfeiting and large-scale hacking into public markets.
The criminal economy developed by these organizations rests on two essential activities: production and predation. That which they are generally known for consists of producing all kinds of illicit substances and developing innumerable traffics: drugs, weapons, cigarettes, human beings, animals, organs, waste, art objects ... In parallel, organized crime is a discreet but constant predator on governments, companies and individuals by the practice of extortion, theft, fraud, kidnapping for ransom, piracy, counterfeiting and large-scale hacking into public markets.
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