Sunday, February 17, 2013

Mario Draghi, you should not be the president of the European Central Bank.

Mr. Draghi, you are there fundamentally covering up, with other people´s money, your own mistakes, as one of the bank regulators who with so much hubris thought they could be the risk managers of the world; and thereto concocted those so stupid capital requirements for banks which are immensely lower for exposures to what is perceived as absolutely safe than for exposures to what is perceived as risky. 

That effectively castrated the banks which in Europe are of such extreme importance for allocating economic resources efficiently; and that effectively created the current crisis by pushing banks into excessive exposures to what you and your colleagues, trusting so naively the credit ratings, considered to be absolutely safe. 

Frankly, someone who has been able to authorize banks to invest in securities with an AAA to AA rating, or lend to Greece, holding only 1.6 per cent in capital, and thereby authorizing the banks to leverage their capital 62.5 to 1 for that kind of exposures to “The Infallible”, does not seem to have the qualifications needed to be the president of the ECB. 

Frankly, someone who at the same time required banks to hold 8 per cent in capital when lending to “The Risky”, and does not understand what that implies in terms of discriminating against those actors who though perceived as risky, play such a fundamental role on the margins of the real economy, like our small businesses and entrepreneurs, does not seem to have the qualifications needed to be the president of the ECB. 

Wherever and whenever, I dare you to in public answer some very simple questions that I have for years now repeated over and over again. Just in case you want to plead ignorance on it, here you can find some of the material that would be in the exam. Be my guest. 

And just for your information I am not someone crazy or unstable. I am a professional with a long and successful experience, but at the same time very anxious about the Western World in which my grandchildren will have to live in… and here but a sample of what I warned you all about, but that the banks regulators' little mutual admiration club preferred to ignore.

And just for your information I am taking this for me quite uncomfortable route, only after in vain having tried to capture your attention so as to help you correct your mistakes. You probably hoped that by just ignoring me, the problems would go away. Sorry, not to happen. 

Why me, you might ask. Because you Mr. Draghi, having been the chairman of the Financial Stability Board for so many years, best represents the promotion of the failed; since many other of your colleagues have only been given a chance to have a go at it again with Basel III, something which of course is also sheer lunacy. But, if there is someone else more deserving of my criticism, please advice, I have no problems. 

Am I not aware of how delicate the situation of Europe is so as to make this type of public letter? Yes, of course I am, but I am also absolutely convinced that if Europe does not rid itself of this loony discrimination against “The Risky”, those who helped it become what it is, then the Europe we love will sadly be gone forever. And you are not authorized to do that!


Per Kurowski