James Grant penned a great opinion piece on banking reform for the Washington Post called, "The best financial reform? Let bankers fail".
Here's an excerpt from Jim's essay:
"The trouble with Wall Street isn't that too many bankers get rich in the booms. The trouble, rather, is that too few get poor -- really, suitably poor -- in the busts. To the titans of finance go the upside. To we, the people, nowadays, goes the downside. How much better it would be if the bankers took the losses just as they do the profits.
Happily, there's a ready-made and time-tested solution. Let the senior financiers keep their salaries and bonuses, and let them do with their banks what they will. If, however, their bank fails, let the bankers themselves fail. Let the value of their houses, cars, yachts, paintings, etc. be assigned to the firm's creditors..."
You can see why I like it already. Be sure to read the whole thing if you haven't already, and pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
You might even want to send it on to some of the politicians in your state, some of whom are just dying to provide their own monstrous legislative "solutions" to problems they probably helped to create.
Related articles and posts:
1. James Grant on "Taking Stock" with Pimm Foxx - Bloomberg.
Here's an excerpt from Jim's essay:
"The trouble with Wall Street isn't that too many bankers get rich in the booms. The trouble, rather, is that too few get poor -- really, suitably poor -- in the busts. To the titans of finance go the upside. To we, the people, nowadays, goes the downside. How much better it would be if the bankers took the losses just as they do the profits.
Happily, there's a ready-made and time-tested solution. Let the senior financiers keep their salaries and bonuses, and let them do with their banks what they will. If, however, their bank fails, let the bankers themselves fail. Let the value of their houses, cars, yachts, paintings, etc. be assigned to the firm's creditors..."
You can see why I like it already. Be sure to read the whole thing if you haven't already, and pass it on to your friends and colleagues.
You might even want to send it on to some of the politicians in your state, some of whom are just dying to provide their own monstrous legislative "solutions" to problems they probably helped to create.
Related articles and posts:
1. James Grant on "Taking Stock" with Pimm Foxx - Bloomberg.