Cicero's Songs

Bob Diamond is a figure who it is hard to love.  Ever since he made the comment that the " time for Banker's remorse was over ", he left a huge hostage to fortune, in the event of anything going wrong at Barclays. As we now know, something has gone wrong, and in the event, Mr. Diamond's bullishness has become his downfall- the time for remorse is now is the almost inevitable headline in most newspapers. Yet, although Bob Diamond may not be the most sympathetic creature, the reality is that - as his own resignation shows- he has not been in control of events. The fact is that the huge banking conglomerates carry within them the seeds of their own destruction. The interconnected nature of the global financial markets has created vast black boxes within the various banks, where few- if any- can understand, let alone control, the risks. The resulting lack of transparency has allowed financial malpractice and even criminality to flourish unchecked. All the Basel ...

The media narrative of the Liberal Democrats at conference setting themselves up against the "evil" Tories is not one that I find particularly inspiring, even if it makes for tub thumping speeches and generates a bit more coverage for the party.  In fact it is a distraction. Vince Cable is wasted as the anti Tory shibboleth, when it is his economics prowess that is now most needed in order to analyse the growth implosion outside the conference hall. Yesterday's downgrade of Italy looks to me like the beginning of the end of the financial system as we have known it for some twenty or thirty years. The political paralysis across the European Union is now not only threatening the existence of the Euro, but of the European Union itself. The breakdown of the EU would be an economic and political catastrophe for the UK. While infantile Conservatives rub their hands with glee, they fail to see the unfolding disaster in Britain. Our markets, our trade, our very liv...

It is a matter of public record that banking crises usually reveal criminality as well as incompetence. "when the tide goes out, you can usually see who lost their swimming costume" as the old joke has it. In the course of the credit crunch, it was not just Bernard Madoff - a name straight from Dickens central casting- who was the criminal. What the crisis revealed was systemic criminality. These latest allegations against Goldman Sachs are not receiving front page coverage, but they should, because what is alleged is that the "Vampire Squid" is not so much a legitimate business as a conspiracy to defraud its customers. Goldman, remember, is the pre-eminent investment bank in the world: these allegations could hardly be more serious. If Goldman willfully and knowingly cheats its customers, then the whole investment business is nothing more than a multi-trillion racket which not only serves not useful purpose, but is actively malign to society at large. It is not ...

A few months ago, I heard Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye, when asked which party he supported say: "I support the Vince Cable for Chancellor Party". The interviewer took it as a bit of a joke- after all there was no such party, was there? This morning I see in the Independent on Sunday that John Rentoul is suggesting that a lot of voters would like to see Vince Cable as the Chancellor , but he suggests that in order for the voters to get what they want, they should vote Labour. Oh really? I thought that was the Alistair Darling for Chancellor Party. There is indeed a Vince Cable for Chancellor Party- and it is most assuredly not Labour. More and more people are realising that the Liberal Democrats ARE the Vince Cable for Chancellor Party, and if they actually want the most qualified guy to head the British Finance Ministry, then they should vote for the Liberal Democrats to get him. You know- I think that Ian Hislop knows this too, even if his interviewer did not.

The Conservatives are living in hope and in fear. They hope that the tide of incompetence and sleaze that previously engulfed the Major government will similarly engulf Gordon Brown. They hope that the more personable image of David Cameron will allow him to do what his three predecessors, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard, could not and lead the Tories to victory. Yet still, the Conservatives fear that their hoped for victory could still be taken away from them. The opinion polls are quite volatile, and given the vagaries of our electoral system, it could still be that the Conservatives get comfortably the largest number of votes and yet not be the largest party in the House of Commons. The Tories need a substantial lead, simply to break-even. Since the Tories still support the first-past-the-post system it is -frankly- their problem and they get no sympathy from me for their predicament. The problem is that the run of polls is such that the Conservatives could be ab...