Tuesday 3 July 2012

The Guardian: "Barclays Libor scandal: how can we change banking culture?"

Link to web site

"... Each man, woman and child in Britain has already handed over £19,271. And our money has gone to the banks.

"According to the IMF, the British stuck £1.2 trillion behind the finance sector. Read that again: well over a trillion pounds in bailouts, and loans and state guarantees on bankers' trading.

"In just a few months, and with barely any public debate, every household subbed £46,774 to the City. A sliver of that money eventually went unused; as for the remaining hundreds of billions, we have no idea just how much we'll get back – or when.

"There ought to be a verb for this kind of involuntary donation. For true accuracy, it should only come in the passive voice. We could call it: to be bankered. 'What happened to the British in the early 21st century?', a future historian will ask. 'Poor sods,' her colleague might reply. 'I'm afraid they got totally bankered'."

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