Quote:
Originally Posted by Asheville Native
Small community banks are in good shape, still making loans.
Why? Because they have been conservative in their practices, and not out to take unacceptable risks for the possibility of big profits. Doing things like loaning money only to the credit worthy.
|
I agree, but we once regulated sound financial practices Congress and various Presidents of both parties did away with those regulations over the past several Presidencies. Financial institutions said they could not remain competitive with Europe with those regulations and they were removed.
The regulations were the Glass-Steagal Acts which were put in place after the Great Depression to ensure that we would never have to go through that again.
I don't blame the financial institutions as much because greed is the game they play, their reason for being. Do we blame a fish for swimming? Our government is here to not allow it to get out of hand, to protect the country and the people. The government is the function that dropped the ball, to my mind. That, and the regulatory agencies who rated these 'toxic' assets. Obviously they do not know their business if they gave this stuff a pass. The SEC also fell asleep at the switch.
To blame the financial guys is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house and then complaining that there are no more hens left. The financial guys will not call this to anyone's attention because they now need money from the government for a bailout.
We could see this mess coming. Many who warned of it were fired. Some tv host said on several occasions that it is
almost as though it was intentional.
So, at least now we will be encouraging alternate energy exploration and usage. Maybe that, in itself, will make everything worthwhile because business in the fuel industry the way we were going would have been a disaster.