Who's in Charge Here?

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Today’s edition of Crikey features a link to a YouTube video of a BBC interview with London-based independent trader Alessio Rastani speaking with unusual forthrightness, if not downright nihilism, on the morality - or lack thereof - that drives market logic: “The governments don’t rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world.” (Speaking of Goldman Sachs, here’s video footage of senior NYPD police pepper-spraying a peaceful anti-Wall Street demonstration on the weekend.)

Crikey also links readers to a piece in the international online edition of German daily Die Spiegel reporting on a study suggesting share traders are more reckless than psychopath. Swiss researchers have found that, according to the report, “stockbrokers' behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths.” The study echoes the findings of Jon Ronson in his book, The Psychopath Test, in which he found that the incidence of psychopaths in the boardroom is four times higher than that in the general population (previously covered here).

What is a psychopath? And should psychopaths be allowed to rule the world? Author Jon Ronson will be appearing at the Wheeler Centre next week. This event has already sold out, but we’ll upload the video/podcast soon afterwards. Sign up to our e-newsletter, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be kept up-to-date.