Banking scandal: our whole society has been warped by the City | Observer editorial
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/30/editorial-banking-leveson-finance
Banking scandal: our whole society has been warped by the City
Only by re-examining our relationship with finance can we rebuild the trust
“ Only through a thorough-going examination of how Britain's banks have been allowed to metamorphose from sober, conservative guardians of our savings to high-stakes gambling dens run by overpaid alpha males will we see how our own society – and economy – have been warped and corrupted by that process.
Only by re-examining our relationship with finance, and reminding ourselves and them that they are meant to serve the public – not the other way around – can we rebuild the trust that has been so cruelly shattered over the past five years.
Diamond infamously told MPs last year: "There was a period of remorse and apology for banks and I think that period needs to be over.". He was wrong: plenty more remorse and apology would be appropriate, and welcome; but much more importantly, the values, culture and practices of finance, as they have developed since the "Big Bang" reforms of 1986, must be torn down, and a smaller, humbler, simpler world of banking built in their place.”