Overmighty banks lost the people's trust - they can't recover without regaining it

[CHIMO]

Confidence grows at the rate a coconut tree grows and falls at the rate a coconut falls. That exquisite simile from Montek Ahluwalia, an Indian policymaker, summed up the 2009 gathering of the World Economic Forum.

Political leaders arrived depressed and left almost paralysed with fear after exchanging horror stories of just how savage and sudden the downturn had been in recent months.

The herd mentality that created the unsustainable boom now threatens to turn recession into slump. Businesses have already written off 2009 and there are doubts about whether recovery will start meaningfully in 2010. Economist Joseph Stiglitz believes that, even now, there is a failure to recognise just how bad things are. Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, says this is a four-year recession; if he is right that would put it up there with the Great Depression.

Politicians now have a choice. They say that they want a stable economic system. They say that there has been too much greed at the top and insufficient rewards for working families. They say they want to avoid protectionism. In that case they have to act and act fast. The public may trust government more than it does business. But there's not a lot in it, and unless there is rapid, verifiable change that trust will evaporate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/02/economics-davos-credit-crunch-banking

[MadMaddie]

1. I think the American public needs to turn their backs on these

Institutions for profit.

These banks have made profits over bullshit penalties and trickery for the last 20 years. They put profit over customer service and they made bad decisions with the type of loans they made.


How about we become members of the banks that did the right thing and held the customer above obscene profits.

No sympathy here for bad business practices!!

[CHIMO]

3. Agree

Except to say their bad decisions on the loans they made, liars loans, made money for them. We all are stuck with it now. As a bank making money it was the right decision.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. I pulled all my banking out of the corporate monsters hands

years ago. All of my banking is done through the Sheet Metal Workers Credit union. Visa 7.5% Car loan 7.25% Loan against my 401K (to pay off my wife's B of A visa @ 29%) 8%, 4 of which goes to ME! Not only that but if I happen to be short on a payment or check or something, they will call me and give me a chance to fix it before slamming me with fees.

That's banking I can believe in!

Oh yeah, I can take a one month payment holiday on my Visa and Car payment in December just to help things along at X-mas. Try that at BofA!

[4dsc]

2. Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, says this is a four-year recession;

I keep telling people that the definition of a depression is a long recession.. Glad to see Bill backing me up on this one..

[BlooInBloo]

4. Um, they never had anyone's trust. That's why regulations exist.

[corruptmewithpower]

5. Hoover vs. Bush

"Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, says this is a four-year recession; if he is right that would put it up there with the Great Depression."

That would put Bush down there with Hoover, but Hoover didn't torture people.

[marketcrazy1]

6. something to ponder

http://market-ticker.org/archives/759-Here-It-Comes.html

[CHIMO]

7. Scary Stuff

But what will be the future?
Global recession - where did all the money go?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/dan-roberts-on-business-blog/interactive/2009/jan/29/financial-pyramid

So where did it go?

[marketcrazy1]

9. thanks for the link

it`s gone and it`s not coming back......... we are SO screwed!!

[corruptmewithpower]

10. Golly, that's complicated!

I've a degree in economics and that's a lot to digest. I'm not confident our congressmen and senators understand the issues any better than me, so I hope they will take the time to get to know what needs doing so they have a chance to get it right.