Not inspirational

“The announcement of the rescue package failed to stabilize the situation, perhaps because more people knew how deep the problems went than the government realized.. None of the central bankers had faced an international financial crisis before; they therefore had to make things up as they went along.”

 

-       From ‘Lords of Finance: 1929, the Great Depression, and the bankers who broke the world’ by Liaquat Ahamed (Windmill Books, 2010).

 

 

Communiqués from government conferences tend to recall the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.”

 

The latest official statement from the G-20 in Busan, South Korea, does not disappoint fans of irony expressed on a magnificent scale. Among the highlights from this vapid exercise in giving voice to messianic delusions of relevance, international finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to:

 

• “firmly secure the global recovery”;
• “put in place credible, growth-friendly measures..”
• rather wonderfully, ensure that “Monetary policy will continue to be appropriate to achieve price stability” and “reduce moral hazard associated with systemically important financial institutions”;
• hysterically, to “accelerate the implementation of strong measures to improve transparency, regulation and supervision of hedge funds, credit rating agencies, compensation practices and OTC derivatives in an internationally consistent and non-discriminatory way” [emphasis ours].
  
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Comments

[Steve Netwriter]

Tim,
I've just read your last 5 articles. Excellent, I enjoyed them, and have added your blog to my new feed.

I wonder whether you are a reader of the FOFOA blog. I recently had a very interesting discussion, you may find it of interest:
http://neuralnetwriter.cylo42.com/node/2921

Many thanks
Steve

[Clive Hale]

Tim
i find it fascinating that your latest missive has moved some of David Fuller's "faithful" out of their comfort zone!
I did like the headline in tonight's post "Tim Price and the Austrians". Sounds like a great name for a new band!
I enjoy your stuff and share your views. You might like some of my posts at www.viewfromthebridge.co.uk in similar vein.
Regards
Clive

[timprice]

Thanks Clive. I'll be happy to take a look. best wishes Tim.

[Ed Knox]

Dear Tim,

Another erudite and enjoyable piece.

Keep up the good work.

I wonder what damage BP will have done to cautious/pessimistic funds?
Prior to the leak it was big, had low gearing, high fcf and good yield. Classic defensive.....!!

Ed