We must enforce laws
I rarely read Mike Masterson’s columns. His ramblings no longer hold my interest. However, his column last Sunday was referred to me by a friend who felt Mike was more off the rails than usual, so I returned to the opinion pages and read it.
The first of the four disconnected ideas was about the recent New York civil fraud judgment against our former president. Mike is of the opinion that no harm was done, so no penalty was justified. He is incorrect. The banks were victims in that they left money on the table that, had the fraud not occurred, would have become part of their profit. That is, had the value of Trump’s assets been correctly shown, the banks would have recognized there was more risk in the loans than originally assumed, and would have demanded a higher interest rate to compensate for that risk. After-the-fact forgiveness of this fraud does not expunge the lies used to secure favorable terms during his negotiations with the banks.
But there is another victim as well. Giving fraudulent business dealings a pass, rather than enforcing the law, increases system risk. That is, without the laws, there is nothing to prevent businesses from routinely overvaluing their assets, making doing business less safe because overvaluation hides risks. Should the practice of massive dishonesty regarding business declarations be allowed to flourish, some small economic downturn could trigger an economic collapse on the scale of the housing crisis or even the Great Depression. Overvalued assets, both real property and loan portfolios, were the main cause of the housing crisis. We are all potential victims should laws against business fraud be repealed or ignored.
As to Mike’s delight regarding the plight of New York now that the truckers are mad, I say, “relax sir.” The trucking industry is fully capable of diverting drivers protesting New York’s enforcement of its business fraud laws to other destinations, while at the same time finding drivers who have no objections to making New York deliveries to replace them. The boycott for which you cheer will be unnoticeable to the average New Yorker.
ALLEN SEAY
Fayetteville