What appears to be is sometimes not what we see. As America sneezes we catch a cold and though a few politicians think that the crisis in that country is just a little runny nose that is clearing up, it's 'snot'. In the last week, there have been some interesting developments that have demonstrated just how connected to the USA we truly are.

Just under a year ago, the bottom fell out of the 'crash plus' bucket as millions of dollars were lost in what is allegedly one of the largest Ponzi schemes in Jamaican history.

As story came to bump, the police and financial authorities swept down on the unregulated financial organisations (UFOs), closing down some and arresting a number of the principals of the most famous, Cash Plus, charging Carlos and his brother for having 'Hill-gotten' gains. We still don't know exactly how much disappeared but the evidence is that the chief executive officer of the ill-fated organisation was a convicted American felon who had duped American residents and had done time.

Pyramid schemes

Ponzi schemes are also called pyramid schemes, but being the Afrocentric 'blackademic' that I am, I would not want to tarnish the history of the great Nubian Pharaohs with such a comparison. Moreover, Ponzi was Roman and it is well-known that for millennia, his ancestors have given black people, including Jesus Christ, hell. Carlo Ponzi, called Charles Ponzi in English, migrated from Italy to the United States in 1903.

In a nutshell, he tricked thousands of Americans into thinking that they could invest large amounts of money for very impressive returns. Banks in New England were offering a mere five per cent interest on deposits, while Ponzi proffered 40 per cent in 90 days. For a period, the early investors put in money and got mega-interest. Of course, as with deceptive religious leaders, the false profits attracted more victims, as he borrowed from Peter to pay Paul.

Well, in the end his back was up against the wall and he was caught, but not before the moths had flown into the flames, getting incinerated. Imagine, in a three-hour period he took in a million dollars back in 1921.

Flash forward to Jamaica in the early to mid-1990s and our financial sector crumbled because of inappropriate behaviour and lack of vigilance from the government regulators. A few bankers were charged and convicted but despite the intervention of 'Omaronomics' and the creation of Finsac, thousands of Jamaicans are still reeling, having lost all they had, and more.

Hefty bonuses

Perhaps in the same way that nobody looked across into the land of 'farrin' before the 'Hill and gullible' ride, no one there learnt anything from us. Lehman Brothers, one of the biggest players in the American and, thus, global financial sector, misled the world into thinking that all was good. In June, its executives paid themselves hefty bonuses, including a US$20-million package for its chief. This, in a company that went bottoms up three months later. Well, if that is not fraud my name is Obote Fulash.

Still, by the time the dust had settled, the entire American economy was falling apart, and a great debate arose about Omaronomic-type socialist bailouts for the American financial sector, which came relatively easily. On the other hand, the motor vehicle manufacturing Big Three - Chrysler, General Motors and Ford - were told that they had no 'automatic' funding and they 'auto' park for a month.

As they made their way to Detroit, like the Pistons after their 2006 defeat by the Miami Heat, another Ponzi arose. This time, he was not a suspected crook, but rather a well-trusted financier, who had been chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Septuagenarian Bernard Madoff made off with around US$50 billion, in the mother of Ponzi frauds. Multiply that by our Jamaican exchange rate and there are so many zeros, not even a house full of termite-brained dunces could match them in examinations.

The amount of money is staggering, even if Madoff were to live all of his 70 years again, he could not possibly spend this money. What is disturbing is not that it took so long for him to be caught, but that he was able to do it in the first place.

Selling seats

As we ponder the issue of money and corruption, one cannot help but recall that at least one Jamaican politician attempted to buy a seat in a southern parish. For $3 million, a failed candidate looked as if he would have displaced the incumbent. Well, it flopped then and it flopped again recently, but this time in the USA. Governor Rod Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama.

Add to the intrigue Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr, who is a front-runner for the seat and was initially fingered as a conspirator. But no! He is an informer, and though like most black Americans he denounces the label, he was carrying news to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for more than six years.

Now, of course, it looks like he could benefit. Let's watch this.

By the way, we have obviously become more Americanised, because a 'reportedly' most-wanted gangster was caught with two guns and ammunition. However, because he 'cooperated' with the Feds, he received a slap on the wrist. Thank God it was a pair of 'nines' and not a pair of size 10s.

In Jamaica, he would have been beaten around the Bush.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at UWI, Mona. Feedback may be sent to orville.taylor@uwimona.edu.jm or columns@gleanerjm.com.