Gordon Brown - Bankers should've been jailed.

[Anna B]

The Reason why they were not jailed is because;

we (British Public)

or (any Politician for 60 years)

or (Any Mainstream Journalist since the 1950s)

have never been able to question the system of capitalism.

 

Capitalism would work just fine if the people who work the levers of it were honest and not too greedy. Even if they were just a little greedy it would work just fine.

We are now witnessing what happens when the actors in the important positions are so unable to conceive their own hubris and greed cause the system to collapse.

 

I agree.

 

But there are investigative journalists out there who have been trying to get the message across but have been mainly confined to the internet. However I was pleasantly surprised to see Jaques Peretti's excellent 'The Super rich and us' on BBC 2 this week. Trouble is too many people aren't interested enough to bother watching. They don't realise yet where this is leading, and when they do it will be too late.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xw4rw

 

I don't think anyone can watch this and not be worried.

[the_bloke]

What laws did they break in order to be sent to prison?

[ALAN 58]

Gordon Brown eh. What happened to " British jobs for British workers"

[tinfoilhat]

He’s writing his autobiography. What’s he trying to do promote it so he can make a few million.

Didn’t think he was a very good chancellor or PM. I don’t think he was much better than the bankers.

 

I think he was a decent bloke deep down and had some rotten luck when he was PM but he could have totally reformed the banking sector - they were all on brink. He just gave them billions and was a bit cross with them. That sort of opportunity won't come round again.

[Anna B]

I think he was a decent bloke deep down and had some rotten luck when he was PM but he could have totally reformed the banking sector - they were all on brink. He just gave them billions and was a bit cross with them. That sort of opportunity won't come round again.

 

As I remember it, quite a few informed people, economists etc, saw the crash coming and got sacked for whistleblowing.

 

Nobody did anything about it, because they were getting rich out of it (and continue to do so.) Britain is now the biggest tax haven in the World.

[Bob Arctor]

Gordon Brown as one of the principal architects of New Labour was enthusiastic to continue with the neo liberal experiment of deregulation of financial services started under Thatcher with the encouragement of Free Market fanatics/ideologues, Keith Joseph, Institute for Economic Affairs, Adam Smith Institute, etc.

 

Gordon Brown needs to reflect a bit more on his part in the overall process.

 

Bankers should have gone to jail. Since the Bankers Party has been in power for a good few years the cost of paying for their greed and profligacy has been passed onto the rest of us, in the form of low investment in Public Services and benefit cuts

 

People should read Chasing Alpha by Philip Augar. He describes how Brown and Blair devised the approach to regulation to be adopted by the Financial Services Authority, which was essentially "do what you like". Yes, the bankers should have gone to prison, and so should Gordon Brown.

[Anna B]

People should read Chasing Alpha by Philip Augar. He describes how Brown and Blair devised the approach to regulation to be adopted by the Financial Services Authority, which was essentially "do what you like". Yes, the bankers should have gone to prison, and so should Gordon Brown.

 

As I recall it was Margaret Thatcher who deregulated the banks, and according to the programme 'The Super rich and us' the process which has led us to where we are today, began in the 80's. That's not to say that Blair and 'New Labour' didn't jump on the band wagon and abandon their roots to continue what she started.

 

Interesting programme. Also tells how, if taken to its natural conclusion, it's likely to end.

 

Everyone should watch it.

 

As for Brown and Blair going to prison, there are quite a few politicians I'd like to see there. We have been very badly governed for the last 50 years, incompetence and corruption are rife.

Edited November 5, 2017 by Anna B

[R1CHD]

Gordon Brown should've gone to jail? Wow! Really? Is there not a difference between poor governance and committing a crime...

[Anna B]

Gordon Brown should've gone to jail? Wow! Really? Is there not a difference between poor governance and committing a crime...

 

Poor Governance is one thing, snouts in trough is another.

[Harrystottle]

I think he was a decent bloke deep down and had some rotten luck when he was PM but he could have totally reformed the banking sector - they were all on brink. He just gave them billions and was a bit cross with them. That sort of opportunity won't come round again.

 

He and his chum Ed Balls de-regulated the banks, a fact which I bet he doesn't stress overmuch in his book. The plan being that the capitalists would go out aand make tons of money and generate lots of lovely tax revenue. Only it backfired.

 

He may be a decent bloke and he did have bad luck, but what he's doing is playing the old "you can't blame me for this" card. Other, better regulated financial systems (Australia, Sweden) didn't suffer the meltdown that we did, and he has to take his share of the blame for that.

 

He's also saying that the US "misled" the UK on the invasion of Iraq. Subtext - so that's not our fault either.

 

Yes the bankers should have been jailed. They weren't. That's down to those in power, not us.