With much of the developed world pointing fingers at American greed and free enterprise as the central culprit of the current financial crisis, Thomas Fricke, Chief Economics Editor at the Financial Times Deutschland, has another explanation.
“German politicians badmouth bank managers or (indebted) Americans, demanding that with their private assets, they be held liable … Certainly, there are horrible people who always want to obtain more money. The only question is whether this is the problem at hand. And whether it explains why the world of finance regularly confronts increasingly dangerous crises. … The problem may be less about greed, and more about the fact that bankers and investors today are severely overwhelmed. This is instead, a system-wide problem.”
So what is it that even the most experienced financiers are so overwhelmed by? Fricke continues:
“It was perhaps not such a great idea to introduce financial innovations, the function of which even professional hedge fund managers declare themselves puzzled and even mystified … the financial world would do well to shift down a few gears and adjust its business practices to the limited capacity of human beings to adapt.”
By Thomas Fricke
Translated By James Jacobson and Ulf Behncke
September 27, 2008
Germany – Financial Times Deutschland – Original Article (German)
Those who really want to solve the financial crises should stop wailing about greedy people and excessive Americans. The core of the drama series is that the financial world itself has been overwhelmed. This is rather a system-wide problem.
Germany could do without Oskar Lafontaine [the extremely-left wing chairman of the German Left Party, who regularly calls for the nationalization a various German industries]. At least as strongly agitated over the “rampant quest for profits,” is the current Financial Minister and tax geek, Peer Steinbrück. Meanwhile, Union politicians badmouth bank managers or (indebted) Americans, demanding that with their private assets, they be held liable. “Brothers, toward sunshine.”
[Editor’s Note: Frick refers to the marching song Brothers, Toward Sunshine, Toward Freedom, which was adopted by the German labor movement after World War II. Regarded as a left-wing anthem, today, it is the unofficial song of Germany’s Social Democrats, the SPD – which is the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel.]
Certainly, there are horrible people who always want to obtain more money. The only question is whether this is the problem at hand. And whether it explains why the world of finance regularly confronts increasingly dangerous crises – less to do with trade, let us say, than with the teeth of the cogs. The problem may be less about greed, and more about the fact that bankers and investors today are severely overwhelmed. This is instead, a system-wide problem.
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