Bankers Have Not Learnt The Lessons Of The Great Crash - Mervin King

[Errol]

Did f**k all in office and now wants to pontificate to everybody about how clever he is and how he sees it all coming.

F**k off you F**k.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Errol

[A.steve]

The separations were a (designed?) weakness in terms of responsibility but it wouldn't have been difficult to work out what was actually going on if they'd asked some questions - which they might well have done but won't admit to. It's also quite amazing that there don't seem to have been any attempts to remove evident weaknesses. Apparently no quality control or continuous improvement process for the process for them. Seemingly none of them spoke up.

I think it an interesting (i.e. plausible) conspiracy theory to ask if the inadequacy of the tripartite agreement was intentionally engineered.

Whatever the case, I am inclined to Mervyn's book, if I can get hold of a copy. I doubt that it will be a best-seller... and I never suggested that I'd blindly accept any opinions that it might convey.

Articles like this pique my interest:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-king-idUKKCN0W00VU

Did f**k all in office and now wants to pontificate to everybody about how clever he is and how he sees it all coming.

I'm interested because he is better placed than most to anticipate the detail surrounding how things may unravel. I intend to reserve judgement.

Edited February 28, 2016 by A.steve

[Errol]

I don't recall him saying anything from 2000 onwards. If he is so clever he should have seen it coming (like most on HpC did).

[Noginthenog]

"Real growth comes from innovation, whereas getting finance cheaply can be a distortion of the system"

From the man who started the Funding for Lending Scheme. Which gave banks cheap money, ruined saving rates and caused house prices to rise again ever since.

Absolutely, and consigned a whole generation of pensioners to a lower standard of living.

[sPinwheel]

Care to recommend one? I can't find it on Amazon.

Sure there are plenty in those shops in the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location.

[billybong]

^ reuters link

"Without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain, and the failure ... to tackle the disequilibrium in the world economy makes it likely that it will come sooner rather than later," King said in an extract of his new book published by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

He's right - and he's even taken on the language of the doomster now.

Does the cover have earthquakes with buildings falling down along with tsunami tidal waves etc etc.

[long time lurking]

I always questioned KB`s stance of the banks need less regulation ,and a no bailout under any circumstance policy, but i think he`s right ,as the only way they will learn is the hard way,and hopefully something decent will rise out of the ashes

No matter how much regulation is put in place the shysters will find a way around it what we are witnessing now is proof of that

[Guest]

Responsibility for bank regulation or not, he should have raised rates to dampen Brown's housing boom.

Even if he felt obligated to ignore the housing market and focus narrowly on CPI, he continually missed his target and ended up writing the Chancellor a letter every month 'explaining' that inflation would surely fall back in the short term - no need to raise rates!

Mervyn King shares a good deal of the blame for the destruction of my living standards. He can say whatever he wants now - it won't erase his disastrous time in office.

Who else was in a better position to steer the economy, or to sound warnings? Do they just not see the problems when they're taking the salary? Or does their job depend on wilful blindness?

[Guest]

And, if the FSA was supposed to be regulating banks, who was running it? Where are they now? Why aren't they in the media the same way as the governor of the Bank?

[goldbug9999]

If only we'd had someone as clued up as merv in charge of the BoE when all this interest rate erosion QE and debt binge was kicking off .. oh wait ..

Edited February 28, 2016 by goldbug9999

[bubbleturbo]

This man is just beyond contempt.

I remember back when he was lecturing somewhere, he would always teach his class that if he were ever responsible for monetary policy, he would effectively fiddle the inflation figures in order to keep interest rates artificially low.

Unbelievably, he got into setting monetary policy, probably because the Liebour boom bust gobbernmint liked the sound of him.

In August 2005, this moron pushed for a cut in rates just as house prices were starting to cool down. He then helped ignite the crack up boom from 2005 - 2007.

He did absolutely feck all of any use and this book is, as others have previously outlined, just some daft attempt at trying to diminish any responsibility from himself for the mess we are in, which is laughable.

He is a self serving lacky who would sell his own grandmother for a few quid.

We should come up with a few alternative titles for his "book" which better reflect him:

"It was not me, it was the one armed man"

or

"Conniver"

or maybe more to the point:

"I am Scum" by Swervyn Mervyn

Edited February 28, 2016 by bubbleturbo

[BorrowToLeech]

In all the press surrounding the book, this is what stood out for me:

It was a tale of two epochs – in the first growth and stability, followed in the second by the worst banking crisis the industrialised world has ever witnessed.

He absolutely still does not get it. There weren't two epochs, there was only one.

Continuous, steady, decline. Not growth and stability, but debt and intergenerational theft.

The titanic wasn't fine until it sank. It was f***d the minute it hit the iceberg.

2007/2008 wasn't the crisis; The UK started sinking well before 2000.

Edited February 28, 2016 by BuyToLeech

[Dorkins]

Bankers learnt the lesson just fine. Fred the Shred and Merv got their pensions, Darling and Brown got their positions in the financial sector, nobody went to jail, the plebs picked up the tab.

Now house prices are going mental again and I'm sure the current occupants of powerful positions are hoping to repeat the trick should the crash come on their watch.

[A.steve]

And, if the FSA was supposed to be regulating banks, who was running it? Where are they now? Why aren't they in the media the same way as the governor of the Bank?

The 'Chief Executive of the FSA' was

* John Ivan Tiner (CBE) - (Early role uncertain) April 2001 - July 2007. Moved on to a role advising New Star Asset Management - 6 months later. [N.B. New Star Asset Management had been embroiled in a the (massive, blatant, criminal) "Split Cap Investment Trust" fraud/scandal in 2004. Some say Tiner was instrumental in securing a trivially small fine after the fraud came to light. ]

* (Sir) William Hepburn Sants - July 2007 to June 2012. Moved on to become "Head of Compliance and Government and Regulatory Relations" at Barclays - 6 months later. [ If you get an opportunity to see him in videos, watch his body language - it speaks volumes.]

There were, of course, other executives... Maybe you could look into:

* Jonathan Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell - Chairman... He's now a 'research fellow' at George Soros' economic think tank in London.

* James Robert Crosby (Whose knighthood was annulled, at his request, in 2013.) - Deputy Chairman. (He came to the FSA while still being Chief Executive of HBOS!!!) As far as I can tell, he's now flipping burgers for cash-in-hand to eek out his meagre pension {OK: Maybe I made that bit up.}

Edited February 28, 2016 by A.steve

[winkie]

[bubbleturbo]

In all the press surrounding the book, this is what stood out for me:

He absolutely still does not get it. There weren't two epochs, there was only one.

Continuous, steady, decline. Not growth and stability, but debt and intergenerational theft.

The titanic wasn't fine until it sank. It was f***d the minute it hit the iceberg.

2007/2008 wasn't the crisis; The UK started sinking well before 2000.

Absolutely. I think he knows this full well though.

The two epochs story suits his purposes of diminishing responsibility and blame from himself.

Everything was fine, it all started in america, blah blah. Same strategy as McDoom.

Edited February 28, 2016 by bubbleturbo

[dgul]

This man is just beyond contempt.

I remember back when he was lecturing somewhere, he would always teach his class that if he were ever responsible for monetary policy, he would effectively fiddle the inflation figures in order to keep interest rates artificially low.

Unbelievably, he got into setting monetary policy, probably because the Liebour boom bust gobbernmint liked the sound of him.

In August 2005, this moron pushed for a cut in rates just as house prices were starting to cool down. He then helped ignite the crack up boom from 2005 - 2007.

Quite - they could have really made a difference by cooling things off in 2004. But they went ahead and stoked things up. This was entirely on his watch, and it wasn't impossible to foresee or anything. It is the job of the central bank to maintain stability and he failed in this.

Everything after this has been trying to mend serious cracks which emerged (or at least only became large enough to bring everything down) purely because of this lack of stabilising action earlier.

[The Spaniard]

Quote:

"Only a fundamental rethink of how we...organise our system of money and banking will prevent a repetition of the crisis. Without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain, and the failure…to tackle the disequilibrium in the world economy makes it likely that it will come sooner rather than later."

Agreed, Mervyn.

Now how about some explicit endorsement of monetary reform? Get to the root cause.

Why should a population of money users have to borrow its medium of exchange at interest from a commercial cartel?

This is just asking for trouble. It is actually insane.

Why should the people themselves not collectively (publicly) issue their own adequate debt-free money supply?

[TheCountOfNowhere]

Yeah....the lessons....nothing will happen and you'll get richer....incentive to cut back...NONE,

[@contradevian]

I've given up listening to and reading this crap to be honest.

Get real, this is the UK. Nothing will change

[Dorkins]

I've given up listening to and reading this crap to be honest.

Get real, this is the UK. Nothing will change

I think it is changing and will continue to change, but it's going to be a slow one. Labour lost Scotland, the Blairites lost Labour, the Lib Dems lost 49 MPs and have gone from being a Serious Party Of Government to minibus territory. The plebs are angry and they will continue to sack politicians who don't stick up for them until somebody comes along who does.

[wonderpup]

Why should the people themselves not collectively (publicly) issue their own adequate debt-free money supply?

Because only a private banking culture with a profound understanding of the wise and efficient allocation of the nations capital can be trusted with this vital task?

Ok- that was a joke.

The real reason being that too many powerful people benefit from the current arrangements to allow anything to change.

[@contradevian]

I think it is changing and will continue to change, but it's going to be a slow one. Labour lost Scotland, the Blairites lost Labour, the Lib Dems lost 49 MPs and have gone from being a Serious Party Of Government to minibus territory. The plebs are angry and they will continue to sack politicians who don't stick up for them until somebody comes along who does.

But the governing rentier/banking party is 14 points in the lead, in opinion polls even though it could implode over Brexit. Hmm

Edited February 28, 2016 by RentierParadisio

[Digsby]

Time and time again, those previously in a position to change things do nothing and then suddenly have an epiphany about what needs doing once it's no longer their responsibility.

As others have said, it all happened on HIS watch, it didn't sound like he had a problem with it while he was collecting his ludicrous salary overseeing it all.

[Dorkins]

But the governing rentier/banking party is 14 points in the lead, in opinion polls even though it could implode over Brexit. Hmm

Still too many comfortably housed+pensioned Boomers and pre-Boomers around for big change via the ballot box, but they're dying off at a rate of a few million per Parliament.