What would you do? (From Business in Dorset)

What would you do?

3:21pm Wednesday 31st December 2008

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HINDSIGHT is a wonderful thing. As recession grips, “bust” (a state of the economy allegedly banned to history) seems to be following the “boom” (another state of the economy also banned to history).

A boom created, some would say, by excessive debt fed by predatory lending and financial gambling on an unimaginable scale, featuring a form of pyramid selling that has finally collapsed. Greed has turned dramatically to fear with a Government bail-out of banks followed by a fiscal stimulus, desperately attempting to restore confidence, dramatically raising debt - what would you do?

There is no shortage of opinion out there, and I suppose it might very much depend on where you are in the picture, personal circumstances and political views. A pensioner, a single mum, unemployed on benefits, a family with 2.5 children, middle aged and just lost your job, a family about to have their house repossessed, a small business, a multi national corporation, an investor, a saver, a worker in local Government heavily unionised with pay and pension protection….. each might be expected to have a different perspective.

Wherever you stand and whatever your view, repossessions and business failures are increasing, unemployment is rising and confidence is falling, the rule books are being rewritten, and what does the future hold for all of us?

Throughout history there have been damaging booms and busts on a regular basis; they are practically predictable, they are never pleasant and always feature excessive and significant swings, loss of common sense, failure of administration and bad house keeping. And the greater the greed in the boom, the bigger the inevitable bust that follows in the fear stage.

Many are asking whatever happened to professional conduct based on best practice, good management and training, a consensus of ways of doing things evolved from history, observations of what worked best (wherever that might be found, and that has been proven to deliver results for the wider good and defined objectives).

Where was the balanced housekeeping and good regulation that really should have protected the vulnerable from such financial mismanagement and greed ? It seemed not to exist. Our elected Government and regulators appear to have failed as they watched the financial world make billons in bonuses, at the same time as losing billions at our expense -- and then bailed them out. Our Government has failed to learn the lessons of history. Confidence in the financial establishment has crashed to an all time low, the blameless majority have been let down by those they trusted. Innocent householders and the real enterprise, the small and medium sized (often family businesses, who are the financial backbone of the economy), are feeling crushed and vulnerable. Many feel the banks have deserted them in their hour of greatest need, with traditional enterprise and hard work passed by; and considered risky, insignificant and irrelevant by some.

The truth is that most of us are powerless to influence or change anything significant, and worse still we are not even given the opportunity to debate or really get involved in the issues that matter. Yes we can vote every so often, but is that influence enough when so much can happen in a short time.

What has surprised me most is the level of spin combined with the smoke and mirrors of political manoeuvrings that have obscured the truth and protected those who should be held to account.

I used to wonder why people seemed slow to be angry when they had been cheated on such an unimaginable scale by those they should have been able to trust, until I realised that the innocent majority will have to pay such a heavy price for so many years to come.

What would you do?

Chris Slocock
Vice Chairman SWCC: BCC Business Representative SW: Past President Dorset Business (DCCI).

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