Tuesday, May 19, 2009

I don’t know… you tell me!

Of course most of the free-market oriented gurus had not the faintest idea about the possibility of the world running into a regulatory induced crisis, and much less did they warn the world about it, but, let’s face it, neither did the gurus of the other side, the Stiglitzes of the world. This should be more than a valid reason for the world to proceed with much caution when heeding the advice of experts. The Queen’s question about why nobody had seen it coming is as valid as ever, and LSE's Professor Luis Garicano answer to her "At every stage, someone was relying on somebody else and everyone thought they were doing the right thing" equally so.

I who as a severe critic of Basel II (and of Basel I) has followed closely the issues and the debates on bank regulations, I am aghast about having read so many reasonable arguments and proposals being ignored. If these small voices had been heard they could have saved us from the current disasters and hundreds of millions of individuals around the world would not have been condemned to misery. So what could we do about it? My number one, two and three recommendation is to beware of the self or media appointed experts who are mostly only concerned with pushing themselves or their agendas… and to severely limit their access to the microphone.
Now how do we do that? I don’t know… you tell me!