Khavari to Alex Sink: Here’s All the Help You Need to Oversee the State Board of Administration
Miami, FL Jan. 11 — Noted economist Farid Khavari, a Democratic candidate for Florida governor, has gained national attention for his plan to create a state-owned bank in Florida.
Today he responded to Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s recent call for additional oversight of the State Board of Administration (SBA). Sink is also a Democratic candidate for governor.
“The simplest way to eliminate dubious investing by the State Board of Administration is to shine light on every deal. Simply post all documents relating to every transaction on a website. For each deal, show who is selling it, how many other deals they have sold the SBA, what fees the seller is earning, who is buying, who approves it, how many other deals they have done with this seller, and so on, together with a summary of the amount invested and the terms.
“Now who would buy a bunch of derivatives from a company in the Cayman Islands for $650 million, where over half of the money was lost? Who would ignore pages and pages of warnings and buy junk ever again, when people could see what is going on? Thousands of ordinary people with common sense would keep an eye on the SBA for you, all for free,” Khavari said.
“I agree that Alex Sink, Bill McCollum and Charlie Crist, as the three trustees of the SBA, do need plenty of help. On their watch tens of billions of dollars were lost. The people of Florida will have to pay thousands of dollars per person in higher taxes if we can’t get the SBA back on track.” McCollum is Attorney General and a Republican candidate for governor. Crist is governor and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.
“In a good year, the SBA’s goal was to earn about 7.5%. Last year their goal was to lose less than 50%. Creating the Bank of the State of Florida could provide the SBA with a guaranteed 10% per year yield,” Khavari said. “This would save hundreds of millions in investment bankers’ fees alone.”
Khavari’s campaign is based on his economic plan involving the creation of one million new private sector jobs in Florida – without subsidies, reducing insurance costs by 30%, and the creation of the Bank of the State of Florida. Using ordinary fractional reserve rules, the bank would pay 6% for savings and provide 2% mortgages as well as low cost financing for state and local governments and Florida businesses, while earning billions per year for the state treasury.
Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is an economist and author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.
