Two very different views of "naked" in the news today. Sometimes its fun to be naked (okay most of the time), and sometimes it should just be plain illegal.
First up Naked photo at Sydney Opera House
Second - Why are naked CDS not illegal.
More below...
In Sydney, Australia 5,000 folks showed up and stripped down on the steps of the Sydney Opera House for photographer Spencer Tunick.
The installation had been commissioned by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which took place over the weekend.
For once the eye was diverted away from the magnificent white sails of the Sydney Opera House.
It was drawn instead to the tableau of naked flesh assembled on its steps.
"Gay men and women lay naked next to their straight neighbours and this delivered a very strong message to the world that Australians embrace a free and equal society," Tunick said.
More than 5,000 men and women shed their clothing - people of all ages, shapes and sizes, who were undeterred by the chilly pre-dawn weather on this, the first morning of the southern autumn.
Beautiful!
Over in France they continue to slowly move towards a ban on the all enveloping alter ego of nudity, the burka.
French lawmakers Tuesday recommended a partial ban on any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women.
The ban on the "voile integrale" -- which literally means "total veil" -- would apply in public places like hospitals and schools, and on public transport, a French parliamentary commission announced.
It would also apply to anyone who attempts to receive public services, but it would not apply to people wearing the burqa on the street, the commission said.
So some progress. I have personally always found it a bit strange as to how it is legal to walk around totally covered (as if in disguise), but illegal to walk around in the same situation in which we were born (and of course why are we not arrested at birth for being naked in a public place? - a hospital). Ah, hypocrisy.
But enough of "no clothes" nudity, it is time for the real "meat".
In a post today Yves Smith over at Naked Capitalism (where else) asks one of the most important questions out there with regard to the financial crisis - Why are naked CDS not illegal?
For those who have not been following the financial news, naked credit default swaps (CDS) are where you buy insurance against a debt going bad. For example if you think Greece might default on its debt, you can buy insurance against this eventuality. If they default you collect from the folks you bought the CSD from. This is all fine assuming you actually hold some Greek debt. But what about if you don't?
The problem with naked CDS is that it is like buying insurance on your neighbor's house, or on your boss's life. I'm not sure I would want to live in a house on which everyone in town had bought fire insurance on, would you? I'd be just a wee bit worried that someone might go a little pyro to collect. And, that is the problem - and a big part of what happened in the financial meltdown.
As Walther Munchau in the Financial Times points out.
I cannot understand why we are still allowing the trade in credit default swaps without ownership of the underlying securities. Especially in the eurozone, currently subject to a series of speculative attacks, a generalised ban on so-called naked CDSs should be a no-brainer.... Unfortunately, it is legal...
So why is it still legal. Need you really ask (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi etc.)? Even Bernanke seems to be playing along - he has suggested that the SEC look into naked CDS, but...
Huh? How, pray tell, is the SEC, of all regulators, going to look into CDS? CDS are specifically exempt from SEC regulation. If anyone has (or could decide it has) jurisdiction, it’s the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Fed. So saying that swaps are a problem, and saying that someone who cannot possibly look into them will handle them, is just a fancy form of regulatory three card monte.
Now I am a big fan of nudity, but even I know there are some places it should not be allowed, and those places are in the financial casinos. Let's ban naked CDS and while we are at it let's enforce the regulations on naked shorting of stocks as well.
Pass the Volker Rule
Ban naked CDS