This explains the Western financial business strategy of breaking every law and paying a fine much less than you earned.

The Donkey

Young Paddy bought a donkey from a farmer for £100.

The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day…

The next day he drove up and said, ‘Sorry son, but I have some bad news. The Donkey has died.’

Paddy replied, ‘Well then just give me my money back.’

The farmer said, ‘Can’t do that. I’ve already spent it.’

Paddy said, ‘OK, then, just bring me the dead donkey.’

The farmer asked, ‘What are you going to do with him?’

Paddy said, ‘I’m going to raffle him off.’

The farmer said, ‘You can’t raffle a dead donkey!’

Paddy said, ‘Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.’

A month later, the farmer met up with Paddy and asked, ‘What happened with that dead donkey?’

Paddy said, ‘I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece and made a profit of £898′

The farmer said, ‘Didn’t anyone complain?’

Paddy said, ‘Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two pounds back.’

Paddy now works for Anglo Irish Bank.

-- Credit to CIGA Giancarlo.

A Wake Up Call

"The world will soon wake up to the reality that everyone is broke and can collect nothing from the bankrupt, who are owed unlimited amounts by the insolvent, who are attempting to make late payments on a bank holiday in the wrong country, with an unacceptable currency, against defaulted collateral, of which nobody is sure who holds title."

- Anonymous

Originators can never go back again

I was proud to see my article in the premier issue of Tomorrow's Mortgage Executive, the new publication of the Progress in Lending Association. In my article I said some things that might be tough for many traditional mortgage loan originators to hear. The truth can be hard to take, sometimes.

Everyone who wants to succeed in this new world has to come to the realization that there is a profound shift going on that points to the need for everyone to focus on offering the best consumer experience possible. I wrote those words in my article and I stand by them. Sadly, this is not traditionally how the mortgage lending business has operated.

There is a reason why our customer satisfaction scores are always one step above (or below) the Department of Motor Vehicle's rating. The good news is that modern enterprise lending systems can change all of that, if lenders embrace them.

Check out my article. It's available online. I would love to get your feedback here.

Not Another Stimulus!

Bet you didn't know the US government is about to do ANOTHER stimulus (as they call it) TODAY.

I like this article as it hints to the unsustainability of this economic model. The markets will rise in the short term, but long term this will destroy the value of the dollar and in turn continue to supress consumer spending which will continue to supress new job creation and employment.

Where will it end....feel free to opine.