The failure of MF Global has wide ranging consequences for the American economy. Its bankruptcy is being handled in a manner that is making these consequences many magnitudes worse than necessary. The freezing of customer segregated funds is having a chilling effect on global financial markets and also has a less obvious but significant impact on the day-to-day operations of farmers, mining operators, ranchers, and other commodity consumers and producers, as well as the portfolios of pension funds and retirees alike. The failure of MF Global directly contributed to the loss of more than 2,800 jobs and the unnecessarily slow speed of this bankruptcy process will cause the loss of even more jobs.
