Never say, "But nobody told me it might happen!"

LafayetteBis · Aug 6, 2018

From the Economist: Ten years after the financial crisis

The last crash and the next. A monumental account of the crisis and its aftermath.

Four big themes emerge from Mr Tooze’s account of the post-2008 era. The first was the immediate post-crisis response, in which the banks were rescued and both the monetary and fiscal taps were loosened. The second was the euro-zone crisis, which hit Greece and Ireland hardest, but also affected Portugal, Italy and Spain. The third was the shift in the developed world after 2010 to a more austere fiscal policy. The fourth was the rise of populist politics in Europe and America.

Mr Tooze sides with most economists in taking the view that the immediate post-crisis response was necessary, but unfortunate in that executives in the banking industry paid too low a price for their folly; that Europe was slow and narrow-minded in dealing with the peripheral countries; and that the switch to austerity was a mistake. Taken together, the backlash against bankers, frustration with EU governments and the impact of austerity led to the rise of populism, the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote.

A big part of the problem, as the author points out, was a failure of political leadership. European politicians initially dismissed the crisis as an American problem, generated on Wall Street, even though Europe’s banks also had balance sheets stuffed with dodgy loans. Meanwhile in America, the Bush administration got its crisis measures through Congress only with support from Democrats, but bipartisanship stopped the moment Barack Obama took office.

... the Bush administration got its crisis measures through Congress only with support from Democrats, but bipartisanship stopped the moment Barack Obama took office.

Perhaps the most dangerous failure, though, lies in the unwillingness to deal with problems which lie at the heart of the system and persist today. The finance sector, which caused the crisis, looks remarkably unaltered. Banks may now hold more capital and their bonuses are now tied to longer-term performance. But bonuses are still very high; the average payout on Wall Street last year was $184,220, just shy of the 2006 record. Scandals over banks’ bad behaviour, in areas such as price-fixing, money laundering and mis-selling continue to come to light.
Click to expand...

When you've lost all that wealth sewn-up in the stock-market ... well, it will have been too late.

And this latest set of WallStreeter manipulators will have cashed out, bought their megabuck mansion in Florida and will be found on the links almost every day ...

*Book, "Crashed: How a decade of financial crisis changed the world", Alan Lane

Baff · Aug 7, 2018

When will it happen?

Predictions without dates are worthless.

Quadhole · Aug 7, 2018

Told you already...2021

Now you will ask for proof... Never ends

Baff said: ↑

When will it happen?

Predictions without dates are worthless.
Click to expand...

Baff · Aug 7, 2018

Thanks. Sorry I missed that part.
I'm happy to wait for the proof. 2021 is not so long.

What have you done to protect your wealth and financial security from this?

Kode · Aug 14, 2018

Baff said: ↑

When will it happen?

Predictions without dates are worthless.
Click to expand...

Next month.

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Never say, "But nobody told me it might happen!"

LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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Never say, "But nobody told me it might happen!"

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Baff Well-Known Member

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