Sirius' Vault and Gringott's Goblins?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 60297

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, yellows at a... wrote:
> In a message dated 6/13/2003 6:15:06 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Sabrina writes:
> 
> > ..., I have ... a problem with the goblins running the only
> > wizarding bank (p.63 SSpb). In History of Magic we hear ...
> > about Goblin rebellions .... Who would put basically their
> > whole economy in the hands of people (beasts?) ...

> Brief Chronicles:
> 
> ... that didn't even occur to me. We hear about ... years and years 
> of goblin wars, and yet they are ... in control of the wizarding 
> currency.
> 
> Two possibilities come to mind:
> 
> 1 -- They've seen the error of their ways ...
> 
> 2 -- Part of their punishment for spreading havoc all over the world
> for so long is to spend eternity working at Gringott's, ...
> 
> Brief Chronicles


bboy_mn:

Unless I'm mistaken the Goblin rebellion took place about 400 years
ago. I think the main thrust of those rebellions was to force the
wizard world to recognize that goblin were intelligent sentient beings
and not beast in the same catagory as rabbits, nifflers, and dragons,
and that goblin deserved the same rights and privileges as wizards.

Once goblins had secured their rights and privileges, they fell into
their nitch in the wizard world. Most people who are oppressed in
general, are especially economically oppressed. Being classified as
beasts would not give goblin many economic opportunities. Once
classified as being, I think like all oppressed groups, the goblins
prospered, and in the process discovered they had an affinity for
managing money.

In some ways, although I admit it's very risky to comment on, I see
some parallels between the Jews and the goblins. Although somewhat
relying on stereo types, they are both historically oppressed, they
are both conservative with money and take finances very seriously, and
they both have proven themselves as shrewd managers of money and good
businessmen. 

I think the fact that goblins treat money very seriously is one of the
reasons they have, over time, become the bankers of the wizard world.
I also believe that the wizard bank parallels Swiss banks. Goblins
guard a person's privacy as closely as they guard a person's money,
and I don't think the goblins believe it's any of the wizard's
goverments business what is in or what is happen with another wizard's
bank account. Their job, which they take very seriously, is to guard
people's money, not to assist the Ministry in catching criminals
unless of course those criminals happen to be bank robbers. And in the
case of bank robber or anyone else who think they can financially
screw the goblins, the goblins prefer to by-pass the wizard's
government and meter out punishment themselves; very harsh punishment
I'm sure.

- - - - - - - - - - - 

Other wizard world banking issues:

Q: Why are the Gringott's goblins breaking curses, opening tombs, and
taking treasure in Egypt?

A: I think it is one of the way the goblins make money for the bank.
They hire out their curse breakers to other countries in return for a
significant share of all the treasure they find, or all the treasure
they make available to the host country by breaking the curses on it.
To the countries who hire the curse breakers, any usable money is
better than a lot of cursed money. So, if you can accept this premiss,
how much do the Gringott's goblins get? 10%? 50%? 80%? How much of a
commission, in addition to their salaries, do curse breakers like Bill
Weasley get? 0%? 2%? 5%? 10%? 

Q: How far does the goblins influence in money management reach? If
there was money to be made, would they invest in the muggle stock
market or assist businesses trading with the muggle world?

A: I think they would. I have this admittedly unfounded belief that
the goblins have a variety of front organizations that they use to
'launder' wizard's money in the muggle world.

On that subject, I think there are a lot of wizard owned muggle
businesses. For example, a muggle and a magic person might marry, like
Seamus's parent, and start a muggle business that acts as a gateway
between the two worlds. They make money by funneling non-magic wizard
products into the muggle world and funneling muggle products into the
wizard world. The accounting and tax headaches for a business like
that must be horrendous. 

Unless you believe that the wizard world is totally self-sustaining
then some products like meat, fruit, vegetables, raw manufacturing
materials have to come from outside. 

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn