Oh dear. After Massachussetts, it seems like the usual sneering about “populist” politicians, and about voters who aren’t happy with the bankers, is back. So here are a few facts of life for those knocking people who think the banking sector could still do with a lot of fixing:
1) The financial performance of the financial services industry over the past decade, in aggregate, has been shocking. Someone who had invested in the US or UK stock market would have seen their investment in real terms (net of inflation) fall by over a third. Shareholders have been brutalized for the best part of a generation now.
2) The last ten years have seen two of the largest equity market collapses in history – the dotcom bust and the bank collapse – and probably $4 trillion in bank lending losses. That is not the sign of well functioning financial markets.
3) Bubble after bubble has been inflated, generally with huge cost to end investors.
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