Should we Bail out the Banks or Have a Recession?

As the Banks sit there wringing their hands in anguish at the problems they are in, let's step back to see what they are actually causing in the rest of the economy.

First we have to understand about the "paradox of thrift", the concept introduced by that great British economist John Maynard Keynes, who has been very much misrepresented over the years. This concept states that if we all start saving too much, then we are not spending. This will then causes a slow down in the economy as goods and services are not being purchased in the same volumes.

Now lets consider what the banks are doing right now in their misguided attempts to correct the real problems that they have caused and with their desperate need for refinancing from Governments and Sovereign Wealth Funds. Yes, they are taking money out of the production cycle for debt re-financing. And as they are reducing the amount of lending, they are deflating global economies.

Are they mad? They are only concerned with their own survival, but it seems at the expense of the rest of the economy. Because they have got everybody's bank accounts online they are now indispensable/compulsory [just try to do without one, your tax office will go ape]. Worst luck. We need an alternative to bank accounts. An alternative that will not try and gear up your money to fund their profits and then pocket your cash when they screw up. How else can we interpret their actions.

At best a bank is only a marginal business. How can it possibly make money from holding our money? They do it by using our money for their own gain. But when their assumptions and their miscalculations mean that they have lost our money, its only natural that we the customers are going to feel a bit angry. No wonder there are "runs on the bank". No bank can survive a loss of confidence in the system. That's why we have problems now - we have lost confidence in "the system".

The only solution is to re-build that confidence, hence massive inter-governmental support, or to come up with alternatives. Well Governments are doing their bit but....

So lets as responsible business folk with creative minds come up with some alternatives to the traditional banks.

First is the internet concept of ZORPA

Next is anybody's best guess. Please lets come up with some solutions.

Over to you.


John Burke, Ecadamist, and International Worrier!