I’ve been asking this question since ZIRP started in 2009.

Insurers and pension funds are required to stick with dependable interest-bearing investments. When ZIRP started, anyone could see that insurers and pension funds would either collapse or force the banks to retract the terrible decision. But insurers didn’t lobby for changes in their restrictions, and didn’t lobby the central banks to resume interest.

WHY? Predicting the risk of a financial decision is the EXACT FUCKING JOB DESCRIPTION of an actuary. Insurers and pensions had huge resources and huge lobbying forces. Why didn’t they use them?

Now Gerard reports on a new facet of the same idiocy. Insurers can’t see the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS FRAUD of the entire bitcoin swindle. Even when the Sucker Filter slaps them in the face, they don’t recognize it.

But in Canada, there’s been less critical coverage scrutinizing these decisions from pension funds and plans. In October 2021, one of Quebec’s largest pension funds — the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Québec — invested $150 million into the crypto-lending company called the Celsius Network — which may now be facing bankruptcy.

That same month, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) announced its investment in FTX Trading Ltd, supplying at least $50 million into a meme-inspired fundraising round — raising $420.69 million from 69 investors. FTX hasn’t crashed like Celsius Network just yet, but the investment is putting teacher pensions in danger.

JESUS CHRIST. DO YOU SEE THOSE NUMBERS?

420. 69. 420. 69. 420. 69.

DO THOSE NUMBERS SUGGEST ANYTHING TO YOUR VACANT NONEXISTENT BRAINS?

These swindles are not technical or electronic. They’re not like Theranos, a semi-swindle** which could only be recognized by experts in the rare skill of blood testing. These rackets are entirely within the financial realm. Insurers are accustomed to writing complex contracts for the complex needs of big clients. Insurers analyze and reject fraudulent claims, and warn clients about known frauds. They know all the tricks, and often use the tricks. No excuse at all for failing to spot these finance-based frauds.

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** Theranos developed a real machine which performed a few tests accurately. A less grandiose founder could have turned the real machine into a small and profitable business. No fraud at all. But Holmes wasn’t content with small profitable reality, and wouldn’t listen to the engineers who tried to slow her down.