Author Alasdair White
The UK has proposed a second huge bailout of the banks: this time to underwrite the loans they are supposed to make to SMEs. While not disputing that this is needed in terms of getting the economy started again, I am saddened that the government has not forced the banks to fire the senior management that allowed the banks to get into this mess in the first place. Ultimately, senior management are responsible for what is happening in their business and if they insist on setting targets that demand higher and higher risks being taken so that the targets can be met then, when the collapse happens and risk-taking turns to rout, then those who insisted on the inappropriate high-risk targets should be forced to take the responsibility for their actions and be fired.
The arguments that they are the ones to sort out the problem is unutterable rubbish – they caused the problem, why should anyone in the right mind believe that they have any idea how to fix it. If they actually knew how to fix the problem then the problem wouldn’t have occurred in the first place.
The senior bankers, in particular, should now go!
Posted in Crisis! What crisis?