The rich have used their wealth to strengthen their grip on power. They pay for the expensive campaigns of presidents and congressmen, so presidents and congressmen help the rich often at the expense of the rest of society. The same syndrome in which the rich have gained control of the political system (or strengthened their control of it) now afflicts many other countries.

Oddly, when they moved to the continent, Puerto Ricans their status improved They became eligible to elect and be elected Congressmen, Congresswomen and Senators and cast their vote in the presidential elections.

Just before the recent G 20 meeting in Toronto, China announced a formula that would allow modest renminbi appreciation, but some American Congressmen remain unconvinced, and threaten to increase tariffs on Chinese goods.

I will get uptown gurus, downtown teachers, broke ass artists and dealers, and Filipino preachers, leaf blowers, bartenders, boob job doctors, hooligans, garbage men, your local Congressmen in the spotlight, guys in the overhead helicopters.

In particular, Tahoun s research shows that US congressmen systematically invest more in firms that favor their own party, and that when they sell stock, firms stop contributing to their campaigns. Moreover, firms with more stock ownership by politicians tend to win more and bigger government contracts.

Even more worrying than insider trading by elected representatives is the political intelligence industry that now flourishes in Washington, Brussels, and other major global capitals. In the US, former US congressmen and their staffers collect privileged information and sell it to hedge fund managers, raking in 100 million annually.

At hearings before a US Senate subcommittee, BP CEO Tony Hayward s evasive maneuvering and failure to answer point blank questions infuriated Congressmen and the American public alike. His expression of contrition may provide some relief that the key culprit has been fingered, but it brought the sealing of the well no closer.

Even the International Monetary Fund, long the embodiment of the Washington Consensus, has acknowledged that capital controls are a legitimate part of the toolkit to manage capital flows in certain circumstances. American Congressmen view the Chinese as archetypal currency manipulators, but the Swiss have introduced a firm cap on the franc s appreciation.

In the second quarter of 2004, the United States Government, together with the Congressmen of the Miami anti Cuban mob, launched a campaign of speculation and false rumours about the origin and destination of Cuban dollar funds, using pressure and threats to intimidate any bank that might have financial relations with Cuba.

A proposal to ban insider trading by US congressmen has languished in Congress since 2006. But it appears that the 60 Minutes program generated some attention within four days of the broadcast, the number of cosponsors of the proposal increased from nine to 57, and a session was called to discuss the legislation next month.

Party discipline is weak, and Congressmen must themselves raise most of the money that they need for re election and that happens every two years for members of the House of Representatives. In Europe, where party discipline is strong and the parties, not the individual candidates, finance election campaigns, money plays a smaller role.

Undertaken by politicians, an audit might be viewed as an opportunity to score political points or steer policy in self serving directions, with delicate information leaked in order to pressure policymakers. While monetary policy conducted by independent bureaucrats is imperfect, handing over effective control to congressmen with one eye on the next election would be infinitely worse.

Tragically, strong resistance from Israel and the Jewish diaspora has led Obama to acknowledge openly his powerlessness in the conflict, and thus to abandon US political pressure on Israel. As a result, a small group of pro Israeli congressmen has been free to threaten and pressure those countries likely to vote for the recognition of the Palestinian state.

An intriguing sidelight on the relationship between Congress and business is provided in a study by Ahmed Tahoun of the London School of Economics on The role of stock ownership by US members of Congress on the market for political favors. Tahoun analyzed the relationship between stock owned by congressmen and contributions their political campaigns by the relevant firms, and found a powerful positive association.

When the European Union last year considered lifting its symbolic arms embargo against China, none of the governments driving the proposal bothered to consider that this, too, would be symbolic, sending a message all over Asia that Europe was putting its political weight behind Chinese regional policies. Japanese demands to reconsider fell on deaf ears, and the initiative was put on ice only when US congressmen threatened economic repercussions and China increased pressure on Taiwan.

Now these themes have been picked up by Dan Tarullo, an influential member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In an important recent speech, Tarullo called for a cap on the size of America s largest banks, to limit their non deposit liabilities as a percentage of GDP an entirely sensible approach, and one that fits with legislation that has been proposed by two congressmen, Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Brad Miller.