parable of the snake illustrated

Robbers casually stroll away from scene of crime, hands in pockets, whistling…

Indeed, the need to repair Britain's battered public finances now seems to have replaced longer-term financial reform as the main priority for some in government. This can be seen most vividly in the decision this week to award lucrative share options to Stephen Hester, the new chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, which could bring his total package since joining the bank to £15m. Despite the huge public backlash which followed news of the pension paid to his predecessor Fred Goodwin, RBS was willing to risk further controversy because its main shareholder – the British government – was a keen supporter.

One senior City figure involved in recent bank rescues summed up the prevailing mood in Whitehall and the City: "If Stephen can get the share price of RBS to 70p then he will have made billions of pounds for the British taxpayer, rescued us all from a deep hole and would deserve more than just a big pay cheque – he ought to get a knighthood and a plinth in Trafalgar Square with his statue on".

Obviously, we’re feeling a bit chipper since all those fiddling MPs put the spotlight on the government. It was probably wrong to say that various banks were nationalized over the past year. It would be more accurate to say that after working for the banks as a regulatory contractor for a number of years, the government agreed to be taken over directly by them in a deal funded by the taxpayer. The new financial-political entity is now free to divest itself as much as possible of loss making non-core functions like education and health, freeing up money to remunerate Mr Hester and his friends.

Comments

[BrianM]

It hink that last paragraph is the perfect summary of what has happened, with transAtlantic and international validity!