Comments on: The Queen’s question: ‘why did no one see it coming?’

By: Ann Pettifor

Ann Pettifor — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 23:19:45 +0000

Thank you Marcel, John and Charles for these….Especially grateful for the ‘dispersed risk’ quote from the

IMF….but there were plenty saying that not so? Have more from the IMF; Mervyn King, Alan Greenspan..but they are all the official sector…what

about university academics?…it seems there were very few academics working on the finance sector, and the international financial architecture?

And predicting that all was stable…? and the Bretton Woods II debate of a couple of years ago?

john fletcher — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:48:16 +0000

Didn’t it take a longtime in the 30′s for the New Deal to get really underway. Roosevelt started by advocating a balanced budget. He

moved very cautiously to begin with because of the enormous latent conservatism of the American people.

It was only when the sheer horror of

mass unemployment and poverty sank in to the people as a whole that he was able politically to start moving. Wasn’t it 1935 or so before there was

any major bank reform?

john fletcher — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:12:52 +0000

Hope the video of this extravaganza is going to be posted on the Web for us plebs unable to enter the Portals of the Immortals.

Marcel Coderch — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:01:16 +0000

As quoted by Adair Turner, Chairman, FSA in:

The IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report of April 2006 stated that [Exhibit 13] ‘the dispersion of credit risk by banks to a broader

and more diverse set of investors, rather than warehousing such risk on their balance sheets, has helped to make the banking and overall financial

system more resilient’. It noted that this dispersion would help to “mitigate and absorb shocks to the financial system” with the result that

“improved resilience may be seen in fewer bank failures and more consistent credit provision”.

Charles Wheeler — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

The biggest lie being perpetrated about the crisis is that nobody saw it coming – hence nobody can be blamed for not trying to

prevent it.

In truth, the list of those who predicted what was likely to happen is legion. The derivatives trading of firms like JP Morgan

was causing concern way back in the 1990s. Brooksley Born saw the writing on the wall in the late 90s. By 2002 Warren Buffet had given a good run-

down of what was in store.

Unfortunately, it was in the self-interest of many not to see it coming. Alarmingly, a number of those who were

actively engaged in paving the way to financial armageddon are now advising Obama (Rubin/Summers et al). The whistle-blowers are stiil being

ignored, while the bankers and regulators that caused the collapse remain seated at the top table.