Drug Money Keeping The World Economy Afloat

the proceeds of organised crime were "the only liquid investment capital" available to some banks on the brink of collapse last year

It almost makes me glad harmless fun is illegal.

drug cartels and other organized criminals have gone on a $352Bn asset-buying spree - and the banks and regulators, world-wide, turned a blind eye to this because the alternative was to allow the banks to collapse. And the corollary is that these investments are now in the system, laundered, whitewashed, and legit. These narcodollars aren't neatly bundled up inside the mattress any more; they're in the system, doing their owners' bidding...

A third of a trillion dollars is a lot of money...

one wonders whether the "organised criminals" have been investing in anything innovative. (Politicians, if they're smart.) And what the long-term consequences are going to be ...

Almost.