After economic data revealed that the UK is indeed in full-blown economic recession, after two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, one government minister has condemned the City of London bosses for their role in the global credit crisis.
Lord Myners’ scathing comments, which Chancellor Alistair Darling has attempted to distance himself from, have given rise to debate about whether banks and their executives have indeed been to blame for the massive global economic credit crisis in which the whole of the world now finds itself.
Poor Regulation
There has been much speculation in the media about the mismanagement of the UK’s financial institutions leading up to the spectacular economic crash last year, which many people have pinned on the lack of government regulation on the banks. Lord Myners’ comments will not have done anything to weaken these views.
His comments came after another government minister, Business Minister Baroness Vadera, last week stated that she thought she could see the “green shoots of recovery” within the British economy, but later had to retract her comments after furious reaction from both the public and the media.
In an interview with The Times, Lord Myners said that banks and their executives had "no sense of the broader society around them," and that the “golden days of huge bonuses” for City executives were over – something that much of the British public will be very happy to hear.
Economic Collapse
He also said that during October last year, the British economy had been on its knees and close to collapse, before the government was forced to intervene with a £500bn economic rescue package. “There were two or three hours when things felt very bad, nervous and fragile,” he stated.
The financial services secretary made his views absolutely clear, saying; “Let us be quite clear: there has been mismanagement of our banks.”
He went on to comment that, in his view, there was no justification for the massive rises in City executives’ pay during the last two decades, and that bank executives should either pay back their bonuses or lose their knighthoods.
Clearly, Lord Mayner's public comments will have angered Prime Minster Gordon Brown and Chancellor Darling. For the public, though, his views have struck a chord which many people feel is absolutely justified. In a week in which UK unemployment has risen to 1.92 million and it has been officially announced that the country is in total recession, many people will see his comments as completely accurate.
 |
