OK - what can the Albanian experience teach us?
It's easy to point at this entire mess and say "well, that's that" or "the history of Albania meant that this was an accident waiting to happen" (which is one of the reasons I posted on Albanian history) or "that's what happens when you expect something from nothing."
Remember the key to all fraud, however - it is the acquisition of money or goods by deceit. No violence is needed or expected, no weapons are used and no threats of force are required. A good fraud scheme just really needs two elements: (1) the gullibility of the victim or "mark" and (2) the projected confidence of the perpetrator of the scheme. BTW - when I use the term "gullible" here, I don't mean that the victims are stupid - far from it. They are at a point in their lives when, for a number of reasons, they are letting their defenses down and are ready for the scam to be introduced to them.
As we have seen from the Albanian experience, there was indeed a "perfect storm" that enabled the entire nation to become gullible to the projected confidence of the scam artists that pulled off this incredible, nationwide pyramid scheme that had its end result of plunging an entire nation into civil war. An inexperienced and uneducated (as to Western economic functions and terms) populace and a massive criminal element (including, unfortunately, some elements of the Albanian government) pulled off a massive pyramid scheme not just on one victim or two, but millions of people.
This, then, in my opinion, is the "lesson" (or one of them anyway) of the Albanian experience: fraud can not only rip apart an individual's life, it can have far reaching consequences. It is not unreasonable to expect that people who find that their meager savings were destroyed by scam artists will become upset and, sometimes, violent. When economic losses due to fraud are not contained, entire governments may find themselves on the receiving end.
It is a lesson worth remembering in any economic situation, but especially economic "downturns."
We will wrap this up tommorrow.
Have a great and fraud-free day.
http://www.tauskvega.com
--------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk
It's easy to point at this entire mess and say "well, that's that" or "the history of Albania meant that this was an accident waiting to happen" (which is one of the reasons I posted on Albanian history) or "that's what happens when you expect something from nothing."
Remember the key to all fraud, however - it is the acquisition of money or goods by deceit. No violence is needed or expected, no weapons are used and no threats of force are required. A good fraud scheme just really needs two elements: (1) the gullibility of the victim or "mark" and (2) the projected confidence of the perpetrator of the scheme. BTW - when I use the term "gullible" here, I don't mean that the victims are stupid - far from it. They are at a point in their lives when, for a number of reasons, they are letting their defenses down and are ready for the scam to be introduced to them.
As we have seen from the Albanian experience, there was indeed a "perfect storm" that enabled the entire nation to become gullible to the projected confidence of the scam artists that pulled off this incredible, nationwide pyramid scheme that had its end result of plunging an entire nation into civil war. An inexperienced and uneducated (as to Western economic functions and terms) populace and a massive criminal element (including, unfortunately, some elements of the Albanian government) pulled off a massive pyramid scheme not just on one victim or two, but millions of people.
This, then, in my opinion, is the "lesson" (or one of them anyway) of the Albanian experience: fraud can not only rip apart an individual's life, it can have far reaching consequences. It is not unreasonable to expect that people who find that their meager savings were destroyed by scam artists will become upset and, sometimes, violent. When economic losses due to fraud are not contained, entire governments may find themselves on the receiving end.
It is a lesson worth remembering in any economic situation, but especially economic "downturns."
We will wrap this up tommorrow.
Have a great and fraud-free day.
http://www.tauskvega.com
--------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk
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