Thread: Bankers and politicians are stuck in 1929

Bankers and politicians are stuck in 1929

George Blakey says the Wall Street Crash and ensuing Great Depression should have taught us what not to do

Last Updated: 1:48AM BST 08 Oct 2008

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When we talk of “another 1929â€

Remember 1929 – what seemed to be the end was only the beginning

The dismemberment of Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers’ former chief executive, before a Congressional committee on Monday was a compelling, albeit brutal, event.

By Jeff Randall
Last Updated: 11:33AM BST 08 Oct 2008

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His televised humiliation was orchestrated by a veteran Democrat, Henry Waxman, whose simple question about Fuld’s alleged $480m of earnings – Is that fair? – hit the banker like a haymaker, rendering him speechless.

As the cameras focused on Fuld’s haunted stare, there was a sense of action replay. Hadn’t we seen this freak show, or at least something remarkably like it, long before Lehman went under – a display of furious inquisitors wiping the floor with Wall Street’s loftiest reputations?

Yes, history was repeating itself: “As the ghosts of numerous tyrants, from Julius Caesar to Benito Mussolini will testify, people are very hard on those who, having had power, lose it or are destroyed. Then anger at past arrogance is joined with contempt for present weakness.

“The victim or his corpse is made to suffer all available indignities. Such was the fate of the bankers. They were fair game for Congressional committees, courts, the press and comedians.â€