Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) is a satirical work, by Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, recounting the experiences of two Persian noblemen, Usbek and Rica, who are traveling through France. In Paris, the Persians express themselves on a wide variety of subjects, from governmental institutions to salon caricatures.

 

As this is summer time, I would like to offer some goodies on this blog with a couple of Venezuelan letters. These will be an exchange of e-mail between two Venezuelans, the first one, Manuel, residing in Venezuela and the second one, Jose, travelling in Europe.

Read First Letter

 

 

 

From: Manuel

To: Jose

Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 4:12 PM

Subject: Democracy

Dear Jose,

Thanks for your e-mail.

 

I did not think that a state under the rule of law worked like that and I am happy to live in a state under the rule of law.

 

I have investigated on the internet about Luxembourg to know more about how a democracy works with the example of Luxembourg.

 

Jean Claude Juncker and Hugo Chavez were born in 1954 and use the same flamboyant public speaking style, which is notable for its abundance of colloquialisms.

 

Prime Minister Juncker has been leading the government since 1995 whereas Hugo Chavez has been leading the government since 1999.

 

But Junker’s party has been leading the government for longer time.

 

Cheers.

 

Jose

 

 

From: Jose

To: Manuel

Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 11:02 PM

Subject: RE: Democracy

 

Dear Manuel

 

Before I came in this great country I did not realize that the lack of political alternation is not of concern in a democracy.

 

In this very democracy, there are only a few electors compared to the number of residents from other states (44% of foreign residents according to Statec).

 

In this very democracy the main power is the Financial Power. The executive, the legislature, and the judiciary are under the influence of the Financial Power: the Executive proposes draft laws for which the Financial Power influences the wording (sometimes the Financial Power requests legislation), the Legislature votes the laws and the Judiciary applies the laws because the jurisdiction is a state under the rule of law.

 

The press does not have to act as a watchdog. People don’t talk about issues, so issues do not exist, which is the reason why there are so little criminal issues before the courts and everyone is happy except when there are ill-informed accusations, such as those relating to the country being a tax haven that favours tax evasion; accusations that are still all too frequently levelled against Luxembourg

 

Fortunately as I said in my previous e-mail, the Financial Power is strong enough to hush up the issues and make dissidends kneel down to preserve quietude.

 

Moreover they have adaped to their needs a famous procedure that was en vogue in the democracy of democracies: the Athenian democracy. A citizen could be expelled from the city-state. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the victim, ostracism was often used pre-emptively. It was used as a way of defusing major confrontations between rival politicians (by removing one of them from the scene), neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state. In the jurisdiction all those that are critics are blacklisted and have to leave the job market.

 

It is really a modern democracy, as Roger Cayzelle Chairman of the Economic and Social Council of Lorraine in France) wrote in a recent book.

 

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Cheers

 

Jose