I’m filled with a sense of injustice. In fact, I’m livid and incensed…

Generally, I try not to let things wind me up - my blood pressure just can’t take it – but sometimes you just can’t help it, can you?

I have come to the conclusion that the majority of the business community are not true capitalists. They should hang their heads in shame.

In true capitalism, the market economy determines the value of investments, goods, services and the like – and people. It rewards the successful with riches and punishes the unsuccessful with poverty. It may be unpleasant at the sharp end, but hey, that’s life…

The thing that astounds and annoys me is that capitalism is now rewarding people for failure. There is something radically wrong with global capitalism when those who make the biggest mistakes walk away with the biggest rewards. It is wrong on so many levels.

Merrill Lynch chief executive Stanley O'Neal has been sacked. He was sacked because his bad decisions and risk-management incompetence cost the company more than $2 billion in quarterly losses.

In fact, the company had to write down almost $8 billion, with a further $4 billion likely in the fourth quarter. This is not a minor error by any means. It is a massive, stonking, humongous mistake of Herculean proportions. He was blinded by greed – and that brought his downfall.

However, it gets worse… Not only has he cost the company a staggering $12 billion, but he has contributed to a credit crunch that could spread these billions of losses further and further around the world.

The greed and arrogance of this man and his ilk has brought the global financial market to its knees. So, what do we do with such a loser? Chuck him out the door in the manner I would be ejected from my employers if I was so incompetent?

Erm, well apparently not…

What you do with someone like this, apparently, is you reward him with riches beyond the dreams of avarice. It makes me want to vomit.

So, Stan the man has done very nicely out of all of this. What’s a few negative headlines when your golden parachute is worth more than $160 million… It will take him a long time to count all those riches while he is on his yacht…. paid for by Merrill Lynch shareholders who are now finding themselves much poorer because of him. He must be laughing like a ticklish hyena.

It doesn’t stop there, however… Stan also has a corporate office for three years… plus a paid executive assistant for three years. He has been rewarded for failure.

A management club has formed at the top of big business, with fund managers with investments in these companies keeping quiet because they don’t want to upset the applecart.

After all, fund managers don’t want anyone to question the extent of their fees do they? That would not allow for their expanding belly to continually expand at the rate to which they have grown accustomed.

The big losers are the small shareholders – like you and I.

This is a new version of the “old boy network” where people maintain their position for reasons other than their competence. It is just as damaging as the original network. The City used to be run by people that were all accent and no brains. This is, thankfully, changing and ability counts more today than old Etonian contacts.

However, this new trend that has replaced it is bad for us all. It is in our interests that the most intelligent and able people are rewarded and the not-so able remain unrewarded. Otherwise what’s the point of working hard and doing your best?

Our current system is flawed. I want true capitalism to drive the markets. The excesses of corporate greed and the trend of rewarding failure bode badly.

Quite frankly, Stan, I could have lost $12 billion for a lot less money than you were paid. Maybe they should make me the next chief executive of Merrill Lynch. I too can lose money with aplomb - if you pay me enough, of course. P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for Smart Commodities UK. It’s dedicated to searching out the investment trends that could provide our biggest profit opportunities for the next decade…

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