The talk about banks being humbled by the meltdown is not true, commented The Independent in an eeditorial yesterday.
Experts:
There is much talk in the city of banks and their managements being “humbled” by what has happened. But that is not how it looks to the outside world. Remember that it is only now, more than a year after our banks first began announcing unprecedented write-downs of bad investments, that some executive heads are beginning to roll. Why has it taken so long? And why has there been so little contrition from the sector as a whole?
No politician with serious ambitions for power should be in any doubt that the public mood demands more effective curbs on the behavior of financiers in future. Better regulation is a must.
It is important to retain some perspective as we enter these new and confusing economic times. First, we should ignore those who excitedly proclaim the end of the capitalism system. What we are witnessing is the death knell of a particular kind of irresponsible capitalism, which has turned markets into an object of veneration, rather than a tool. Second, we must not forget that lax lending was one of the root causes of this conflagration.
Even if it were possible to resurrect that world of easy money (which it is not), there would be nothing to be gained from bringing it back.
