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Friday 6 August 2010 |
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Friday 6 August 2010 |
From Mr Jagdish Bhasker.
Sir, Apropos of Tim Harford ( August 4 ), the message is loud and clear: the excessive leverage and deliberately complex financial engineering employed to create instruments such as collateralised debt obligations of CDOs have to be abandoned to regain confidence in free market functioning. As an economist, Mr Harford consoles himself that when the credit crunch hit he knew nothing about banking but those who were running the banks didn't either.
This reminds me of a Sanskrit saying:
He who knows and knows that he knows, is a sage; follow him.
He who knows not and knows that he knows not, is a seeker; teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him.
He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.
Looks like many of those bankers (perhaps far too many) belonged to the last, unpardonable category!
Jagdish Bhasker,
Puteaux, France