John Kay

The financial crisis left a few individuals responsible for it very rich while its consequences made millions not responsible for it much poorer. If this involves no crime, then we have failed to define or prosecute crime appropriately.

The belief that the right response to the failures of Basel I and II is a more elaborate version of the same global regime is a triumph of hope over experience.

Restriction of business on moral grounds is not always unsuccessful but measures have to be applied with great care.

If trust and confidence in financial intermediation are to be re-established, principles of loyalty and prudence are a prerequisite.

Should there be markets for sperm, surrogate motherhood or transplant organs?

There are many similarities between this response to the press crisis of 2011 and the reactions to the financial crisis of 2008. In both cases the demand for better processes and new rules largely missed the point.

Prevarication and political posturing, the persistent incrementalism when bold actions are required and the readiness to oppose policies simply because they have been espoused by somebody else, are as characteristic of policy today as they have been for the past 50 years.

On the 29th October John gave evidence to the parliamentary commission on banking standards. The discussion covered banking culture, regulation, competition and corporate governance. Watch in full here.

Some complexity is unavoidable, but much of the complexity consumers experience is not.

Effective banking reform should aim at structures, not at intensified supervision. Resilient systems are simple ones.