The dodgy dealings of bankers and financial traders continue to amaze and appal us. But few people realize that they, rather than governments, control the very creation of money, as Peter Stalker explains.
In August 2015, jurors at London’s Southwark Crown Court were drawn into the murky world of Pete the Greek, Fast Eddie, Golum, Pooks and Tommy Chocolate – nicknames for traders implicated in a vast financial conspiracy. In the event it was Tommy who spilled the beans and took the fall – sentenced to 14 years for manipulating a key financial indicator, the London Interbank Offer Rate, or Libor.
Most people do not know or care about Libor. But it matters.
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