The advantages of the financial crisis

One week after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers investment bank, Pascal Riché comments in the French online magazine Rue 89 that there is also a positive side to the international financial crisis. "First off, what we saw last week was certainly an improvement over the previous situation: a banking system that swept its losses under the carpet, that ... denied its mistakes, kept its skeletons hidden away in closets and lied to the state. If this system had been maintained, the billions in losses incurred by the banks would have been paid by the taxpayer. ... It was better to let the bubble burst. ... The banks and their shareholders - everyone who speculated in irresponsible ways - must absorb these losses, not the taxpayer. ... This crisis may give way to a more solid economy, one less dependent on the excesses of the financial system. The ball is now in the politicians' court. They must create a simpler, more transparent regulatory system in the banking sector, and see to it that this system cannot be circumnavigated with accounting tricks. ... If the crazy world of finance can be controlled, if the advantages of political action can once more be shown, that is not bad news."

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