I am an historian who has recently published two books on the story of British manufacturing. Here are my thoughts on a number of other topics including my former roles as chair of the Lincoln Book Festival and chair of Lincoln Drill Hall. My other blogs http://williamsmithwilliams.co.uk talk about my biography of the man who discovered Charlotte Brontë, and http://www.philwilliamswriter.co.uk about my books on how the army was supplied in the world wars.
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Sunday, 18 April 2010
FSA watches Goldman Sachs case after link to city trader
The Observer article suggests that the authorities are pursuing the 'architects' of the exotic financial instruments that helped to cause the credit crunch. I would suggest that the architects merely designed the tools for others to use. Isn't it the case of the bulldozer equally useful in clearing brown field sites and removing settlements in ethnic cleansing?
Monday, 12 April 2010
Avarice: true villain behind global slump
Now, this is scary, to read in The Guardian the argument on which much of Broken Bonds is based that forget bonuses and deficits, the root cause of the banking crisis is greed. The article points to those looking for a comfortable retirement, amen to that! The point throughout, though, is that investors will always seek the best possible returns and a banking industry geared to serve this market will seek to produce it. The answer is radical and is about fair shares for all. The question is how might that be achieved.
In the run up to a General Election it will be interesting to see whether any of the major parties follow this as a vote catching issue. The point is that we are not talking about bad people. It was easy to point the finger as massive bonuses and crazy senior executive salaries, it was easy to get steamed up about tax havens, but this stuff is too close to home. It's about you and me.
In the run up to a General Election it will be interesting to see whether any of the major parties follow this as a vote catching issue. The point is that we are not talking about bad people. It was easy to point the finger as massive bonuses and crazy senior executive salaries, it was easy to get steamed up about tax havens, but this stuff is too close to home. It's about you and me.