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True Size of the Shadow Banking System Revealed (Spoiler: Humongous)

Posted by Soulskill on from the sith-lords-need-checking-accounts-too dept.

KentuckyFC writes "The banking system is closely regulated and monitored by central banks and other government agencies. But it has become common practice for banks to get around this by doing business in ways that don't show up on conventional balance sheets. This so-called shadow banking system is thought to be huge, but nobody knows exactly how big. Now three econophysicists have discovered that the size distribution of the world's largest financial firms significantly differs from the size distribution of smaller ones or indeed non-financial firms. And they hypothesize that the difference is the result of the hidden transactions that make up the shadow banking system. By this new measure, the shadow banking system has grown dramatically since the financial crisis and was worth over $100 trillion in 2012, significantly more than had been thought and more even than the GDP of the entire planet. Nothing to worry about, then."

15 of 387 comments (clear)

  1. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The banking system is closely regulated and monitored by central banks and other government agencies."

    AHAHAHAHA Stop it! Yer killing me!

    1. Re:BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA by TWiTfan · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Econophysicists" - That's the REAL punchline.

      We Slashlinguists understand the term perfectly, you insensitive clod!

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      The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
    2. Re:BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA by Mitchell314 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Interesting, when I see somebody reject another's argument on the basis they reject a third party's argument solely for using wikipedia, I pretend to be clever by making a meta joke to hide the fact I got lost tracking the level of nested counter claims.

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      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  2. Econophysicists. WTF? by Russ1642 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I did my masters in non-Newtonian budget surpluses.

    1. Re:Econophysicists. WTF? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Funny

      Econophysicists are just aspiring botanopsychologists who couldn't cut it.

      --
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    2. Re:Econophysicists. WTF? by xvzf · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dark matter, ya know.

    3. Re:Econophysicists. WTF? by sabt-pestnu · · Score: 4, Funny

      No... Econophysicists. Dark money

    4. Re:Econophysicists. WTF? by hamburger+lady · · Score: 3, Funny

      botanopsychologists

      laugh all you want, but when the triffids start taking over who's going to talk them down, huh?

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    5. Re:Econophysicists. WTF? by wierd_w · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nono.

      It's the non-neutonian version of fluid capital.

      It really isn't that difficult; just imagine cornstarch and water.
      Ok, now imagine that as money, aka, liquid assets.

      This non-neutonian liquid asset appears firm and to have substance as long as it is traded quickly, or placed under high trade pressures, but for anyone attempting to hold onto it, it melts into a sticky mess, and they are left with little to show for it.

      There is a considerable degree of interest and research into such non-neutonian liquidities, as everyone seems hell bent on finding ways to make ever more of the stuff. This means that the rate of exchange and the overall economic force behind the trading have to continue to rise to accommodate the inclusion.

      We non-neutonian econophysicists deal almost exclusively with these kinds of liquidities, and often work very closely with non-euclidian geometric market analysists to see new angles to the market that others failed to see or exploit before.

      It's really quite technical deep down, so don't feel bad if you can't quite comprehend it all.

  3. Shadow banking system by Iamthecheese · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Shadow", that sounds really scary. I don't like scary things like shadows and terrorists.

    Let's give the government a lot of power to regulate cash flow so they can protect us.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  4. Re:Shadow economies by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 3, Funny

    There is a guy in a corner office somewhere that is apparently making my $40k share of the underground banking economy.

    I would guess to say he's also making the $40k share of many most of the people in my 5 square miles as well.

  5. Re:"Quantitative easing" my ass by meta-monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    To so much as imply otherwise means you must be a communist.

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    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  6. I am not amused by meta-monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    At what point can we end the delusion that fiat currencies are worth anything at all?

    Let's just go back to bartering. How many chickens do I need to give my Cox Cable for my internet access?

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    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    1. Re:I am not amused by locopuyo · · Score: 4, Funny

      How do your cocks compare to Cox?

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  7. Re:Shadow economies by TWiTfan · · Score: 4, Funny

    The banker initiation involves kicking a puppy and stealing a little old lady's pension check.

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    The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."