From Tony Keogh.
SO now we have come to the end of an economic boom which made the Californian gold rush look like a mad stampede at Pick ’n’ Mix in Woolworth’s.

The irony is that most of the upside went to those who were already wealthy; now, the downside and its debris is being picked up by government and the taxpayers, and all because nobody had any idea how the financial system is supposed to work.

This is as confusing to the free marketeers as it is to the social democrat or to the outright leftist. The challenge is that capitalism no longer has a global protagonist; it has never needed one more. To use a football analogy — all the top teams in the Premier League need each other if they are to keep on top of their game. All we have is the blame-game; the bankers, the regulators and the government have taken stick.

One thing which is lacking in the public debate is us, the public. We did this to ourselves. Greed and stupidity are not confined to financial institutions. It is an extraordinary fact that Britain, for example, has half of the total European credit card debt. Bankers are to blame, but we are to blame as well. Maybe it is poetic justice that we, the taxpayers, may have to pay the price.

What does all this mean for us in Jersey? The world markets have so manifestly, so flagrantly malfunctioned that we cannot go back to the idea of unfettered liberal capitalism as some kind, mag-ic wand that cures all ills.
There is a new Bretton Wood conference which is being called, to control again the global flow of capital, as the first 1944 Bretton Wood attempted at the end of the Second World War. It may be the best we can settle for.
The conclusion has to be that the global financial system has always needed a free market and an easy flow of capital.

Jersey, as a part of that financial industry, will no longer benefit from those conditions — which will lead to a downturn in our financial industry and the necessary revenue which we need to protect our social infrastructure.
Our finance industry is as well regulated as any under the present international rules. What our present political leaders have failed to grasp is that the big boys in the global political playground are changing the rules.
Our leading politicians must stop the spin and face the facts.

So fasten your seatbelts and have a sickbag handy — we could be in for a bumpy flight and we can only hope that there is smooth air ahead.
And a little praying may not go amiss.
9 Ville des Chênes,
St John.