I've had many discussions with fellow twitterers on the subject of the collapse of the banking system. Most of you by this time know which side I'm on. The answer to anyone trying to blame the banks for the mess that engulfed us a couple of years ago is always that it was the governments fault for removing the bank's regulation system.
"All Browns fault." is the cry that greets anyone daring to criticise the banks.
What a cop out and a particularly feeble one at that. The regulations had been in place in order to prevent what actually happened when Fred the Shred went off on his gambling spree.
It was still the bank's fault even after the regulations had been lifted. Who could ever have imagined the depth to which some of them were able to sink. If you lift a sanction or relax a rule,as for instance the British licensing laws, do you them blame the government of the day because people are going out and getting drunk? Do we live in a state where we have no responsibility for our own actions?
In school if you relax the rules on school uniform do you expect the kids to appear topless?
The people running the banks had been there for some time....they knew the rules perfectly well. Did we expect them to suddenly become amoral with our money just because they could?
I understand the need to pin the blame for everything on the last Labour government but let it at least be fair. Removing a regulation does not mean the people involved have license to go on and shaft us all.
1 comment:
Jean,
I believe that the relaxation of banking rules actually commenced under the previous Tory Governments of Maggie Thatcher and John Major. All Labour did was to tweak them in what they believed to be commercial interests, more profits in banking, meant more taxes available to spend.
The Banking crisis was global, but the practices that led to the crisis originated in the USA, who had relaxed their rules earlier then the UK. But our bankers, keen not to be left behind, jumped on the bandwagon.
And of course, the culture of 'have it all now', and 'selfish individualism' owes much to the Tory ethos introduced under Maggie, but continued by successive governments. Boom or Bust, seems to have been a common feature. I am sure we can remember the extortionate interest rates of the 80's, driven by raging inflation.
Access to easy credit, including mortgages at sometimes 3 or 4 times income, introduced due to competition, were received gratefully. So were higher living standard, most of all bought on credit. At some time the bubble had to burst and it has, with the horrifying consequences we have now.
We did not seem to learn any lessons from the recessions of the 80's and 90's, just continuing with more of the same.
I believe that we all share some of the blame, I certainly acknowledge my part of it. For a long time, I lived with debts which I thought nothing off. Only in recent years, did I realise how foolish I had been and took steps to place my finances on a solid footing and without debt. I still have a small mortgage, which can be serviced on a pension, even if interest rates rise.
I shudder to think of how families cope with mountains of debt and often, face losing their homes, if they lose their jobs. This government, is placed in an invidious position, having to cut the huge deficit, but its policies seem to be targeted towards the most vulnerable in our society, while protecting many of the very people who were involved in creating the crisis in the first place.
That is where I think that they lack morality, their Big Society relies on the goodwill of people volunteering to fill gaps, but many of those who would volunteer, are struggling to clear debts, to keep their homes and families together worried about deep uncertainty for their future. If we are all in this together, then the pain should be shared equally.
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