Comments on: Corporate greed and bringing these disgraceful companies to their knees https://www.openforum.com.au/corporate-greed-and-bringing-these-disgraceful-companies-to-their-knees/ Open Forum offers an independent platform for Australian debate Tue, 19 Dec 2023 21:24:05 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 By: Gary Looney https://www.openforum.com.au/corporate-greed-and-bringing-these-disgraceful-companies-to-their-knees/#comment-1013 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:19:00 +0000 http://staging.openforum.com.au/blog/corporate-greed-and-bringing-these-disgraceful-companies-to-their-knees/#comment-1013 That Thing

Practice of inefficient unsustainable service values that we now see is across our world and quickly adjusting. Being selective about individuals only beggars the question why many would not speak up and question decisions and who would ultimately be responsible.

Change in business practice is taking place across all sectors and I believe history may one day refer to this period to that of cultural change and acknowledgment that greed can prevail in good economic times creating this cycle.

I would not be to quick using politically motivated names for the event.

A Citizen of Australia and all its Territories!

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By: MikeM https://www.openforum.com.au/corporate-greed-and-bringing-these-disgraceful-companies-to-their-knees/#comment-1006 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:37:00 +0000 http://staging.openforum.com.au/blog/corporate-greed-and-bringing-these-disgraceful-companies-to-their-knees/#comment-1006 Greed is eternal but the crisis will end

The current financial crisis has been brought about by corporate greed and the insatiable quest these aloof corporate leaders have to service their already large egos.

That is a factor, but only one factor. To see this, simply reflect that human nature doesn't suddenly change, so why did the crisis happen now, not five years ago, ten years ago or 20 years ago? There has to be more to it than that.

The two biggest factors (out of probably a dozen) were the US Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy and politicisation of the US market for housing loans

Former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman William McChesney Martin said that the job of the central banker is to "take away the punch bowl just when the party gets going". Alan Greenspan didn't take away the punch bowl. Loose monetary policy was desirable for a period after the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, but it went on for too long. In Greenspan's defence it can be argued that, firstly, there was no sign of consumer price inflation as normally occurs when interest rates are too low. (A major reason was the unique effect of massive Chinese commodity imports lowering the cost of electronics, clothing, toys, in fact most goods.) While the housing market was developing a massive bubble, the experience a few years earlier with the dot-com NASDAQ stock market bubble suggested that this one would also deflate without much damage.

As things turned out, it didn't.

As for the housing loan market, the issues are complex. Rather than my trying to explain, Michael Lewis does a pretty good job in his feature for Portfolio.com last December, "The End". Well worth a read.

The upshot of it all is certain to be substantial global changes in the regulatory environment for banks, to address the shortcomings that have been exposed.

It is true that Australian bank charges are higher than in most other countries although there has been no rush to exploit the better deals that many credit unions and smaller banks offer consumers. It is also true that our four major banks have kept their AA credit rating which almost every other bank in the world has lost. It is true that our government has taken, on the whole, a laissé faire approach to jobs being shipped offshore. Our unemployment rate is rising towards a worrying 5%, whereas the French government has tended to actively discourage jobs being shipped out of the country, resulting in an unemployment rate of only 8.3%.

Dr Jerry Jordan, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1992 until January 2003, member of the Federal Open Market Committee and participant in Federal Reserve decisions up to that time, is currently travelling through our region. Last week he was interviewed on New Zealand Radio National and asked, "Economic and financial crisis – how long will it last?" (MP3 downloadable until May), an interesting 25 minute interview.

MikeM recommends Michael Lewis's first book, Liar's Poker.

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