Hanging 20 bankers at the end of the street won't help, says Blair

[NicholasTeakozy]

Why not 30? Or 40?. Maybe not Tone, but it'll be a start.

I read this long but interesting piece earlier which suggests that it is the politicians who are the guilty guys after all. Enjoy...

It'd maybe concentrate a few minds. At the moment, bankers know they can damn well get away with it, and even if the very worst happens, they'll have made a pile of cash by the time they are caught out.

Whole financial services industry is riddled with corruption, fraud, exploiting consumers and bad faith - we need a Leveson enquiry to clean out the Augean stables. And it should ask what the hell has happened to our pensions, as well.

Hey, I have a much better idea. Why not just hang Tony Blair, instead?

if you make that 'as well' I may be persuadable...

Blair's right, the problems in the banking sector and the lack of credit flow in the economy is only one of the problems the economy has. The long term unsustainability of fiscal policy, serious problems in the labour market and increasing regional disparities in economic performance etc are others. Declaring war on the banks will not solve these problems and will almost certainly make them worse.

Why don't we do what they've done in Iceland? Indict those in charge, properly nationalise failing banks, abolish debt in mortgage that's above 110% of your property value and put people first.

Whilst our economy is shrinking, their GDP is at 2.3% growth.

jrost, are you a banker?

Blair's right? You gotta be kidding, although some people did call him Tory Blair.

No I'm not a banker, I just think that blaming all the problems in the economy is a very lazy analysis.

'Declaring war on the banks' yadda yadda yadda same old tired exaggeration used by people who want the banks to carry on as before. And we all know where that got them, and us. We'd be a damn sight better off if we HAD declared war on greedy corrupt bankers. Instead politicians and regulators have continued to treat them with kid gloves.

The banks are a negative force in this country - how much more evidence do you need that they are a corrupt drain on society? Fixing Libor? Causing the financial crisis and placing a bomb under the whole world economy? Mis-selling scandal after mis-selling scandal? Jeez, if they jumped up and down holding massive placards saying 'we are up to no good' there would still be some sympathisers ready to tell us they are somehow misunderstood and mistreated.

And let's not forget laundering drugs money... Hopefully the US will take some action against corrupt and criminal bankers, our own regulatory system is so crap half the time they tell us they don't think it's even illegal.

How would risking a massive capital outflow help anything?

Are you claiming that telling the bankers to obey the law and act honestly - like giving accurate figures for the cost of borrowing - would cause massive capital outflow?

No I was referring to further taxation and regulation mainly. If laws have been broken then obviously action should be taken but the anti-banking movement wish to go far further by placing increased taxes and regulations restrictions that stretch beyond what the Government has implemented or is in the process of implementing as they mistakenly believe that this will solve the country's problems.

Even the politicians and the regulators who were responsible for what they call 'light touch regulation' admit it was crap and helped to get us into this mess. I don't think more regulation is a problem, it's the lack of regulation that was a disaster.

I can understand the fury against the bankers from the man in the street.

I just wonder what realistically will be the engine of economic growth that will take us out of this recession if we slaughter London's financial services in the name of outrage.

New York will be delighted as will the other financial capitals of the world.

Fine to bring those responsible to book but talking about hanging bankers (many of whom are not your Bob Diamonds) is really killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Do it too quickly and we are talking about shooting ourselves in the foot.

the City was a false idol. Engine of economic recovery my backside! It's been exactly the opposite. And our unbalanced economy, with over-reliance on what should be a support function to the main act, has been shown up for the dreadful mistake it always was. We'd do far better to look at investing in and developing science, technology, manufacturing and creative industries - areas where we actually have some talent.

Finance and accountancy are supposed to support business, not pretend to BE what business is all about. It's like basing your entire economy on HR or facilities.

Edam, from your last sentence, I fear you are living in the past.

Interesting to think we have talent in science, technology and manufacturing ... the education system is of course churning out all the footsoldiers we need in this area

I did not go through the British education system. Broadly speaking, you so do not have an education system that nurtures that sort of industry. However, your talent is in the creativity, innovation, communication and diversity. All perfect for a thriving financial services.

I am not saying we cannot or should not go back to a manufacturing base. But it will involve a lot more than just talk and hotair.

We do have talent in those areas, but when people set up spin off companies to exploit scientific or technological innovations, they end up being sold off to the Yanks. We are good at start-ups but lack the oomph to turn them into big companies that compete internationally. The financial services industry is part of the problem here, wrt to the financing that would help small businesses to grow and make the most of their ideas.

For instance, Britain was ahead of the pack in the early days of home computing but allowed the Yanks to corner the market (and the Japanese to get better at manufacturing technology). We are still taking that short-term approach to technology now. Short-termism being something that is encouraged by the City and business leaders - grab as big a slice of the profits as you can now and never mind the medium or long term. Our business leaders and financiers prefer to make short-term gains through carving companies up, rather than investing for the long-term.

it would be stupid to expect any single sector to drive the UK economy - monoculture is always the most vulnerable way - diversity brings more stability.

"Finance and accountancy are supposed to support business, not pretend to BE what business is all about"

finance is a service required by business, just like cleaning and lunches...it is a business in its own right also.

but as i have said, best to have lots of things going on. Getting angry with the whole FS industry because of problems with some portions of it is a massive 'baby and bathwater' thing. FS still provides a great number of jobs in this country - as well as being the provider for that much needed capital to business, and paying out of bank profits a hefty lump of tax to the exchequer.

not wholly a negative force at all

edam the Uks primary innovation area is in pharmaceuticals- still plenty of patenting work in this country in that area.

Yes, it's daft to rely on one sector, which is why the reliance on the City was such a bad thing. We have allowed the City to dominate our economy and that has proved to be a massive mistake.

And it's not just 'a few problems', it's caused the collapse of the whole economy right across the developed world, and massive scandal after massive scandal. This isn't about telling off a few naughty individuals, it needs root and branch reform.

Yeah, but we just lost a pharmaceutical centre - can't recall which company, was it Pfizer?

as a FS employee (albeit some way down the food chain!) i am very conscious that a person really determined to use banking services as a vehicle for money laundering would be very difficult to catch out if they came up with a good and consistent enough story.

this may not have been what was going on in Mexico, where it seems the bank was complicit - but i think to extrapolate from one region and one bank to the UK and all its banks is unfair to say the least.

there is in fact huge amounts of anti money laundering compliance law already!! - in this country at least. possible sentences are up to 15 years.

Exactly Edgar. UK anti-moneylaundering laws are one of the toughest in the world. Think of the OTT Proceeds of Crime Act and its hair trigger reporting requirements.

It is one of things that keeps me busy!