“The world has been through the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression,” he said. “As severe as the economic impact has been, however, the outcome could have been decidedly worse.”

If the Fed, other central banks and other government leaders hadn’t acted in a coordinated and aggressive way in September and October of 2008, “the resulting global downturn could have been extraordinarily deep and protracted,” Bernanke said.

The policy response “averted the imminent collapse of the global financial system, an outcome that seemed all too possible to the finance ministers and central bankers.”
This is from Mish, However you could easily change Bernanke’s wording as follows. If the Fed and other central banks had acted in a coordinated and agressive way in September and October of 2005– you get the picture. Bernanke gets my vote because he had worked at the Fed leading up to this and now he is in charge. What a great country!

except dealings between individuals I can’t remember that ever having been the case
- it may have been publicly claimed and a lot of small town bankers may actually have come pretty close to the ideal – acting responsibly towards their community and the borrower at the same time
- but surely even they had a better income than the average
- and from what can that have resulted if not from profit.

2) All members of the American political elite – the governors, the congressmen, the senators who’ve been bought by special interests, forgetting the true reason for political power, to be the voice of the people who elected them.

3) Economists who develop math models that prop up ridiculous business decisions – say, for instance, the math models that let people believe a housing market that skyrocketed significantly would continue to ascend forever, all evidence and commonsense be damned.

4) Citizens of this country who appear to have become paralyzed into inaction.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/david_b_kellermann/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=David%20Kellermann&st=cse

Not only have we not seen those Mea Culpas but they go on as if nothing has really happened with their fundamental regulatory paradigms.

Michael writes “It appeared that the development of the framework was broadly inclusive and exhaustingly and prudently vetted. The BIS working groups provided extraordinary disclosure. The debates were conducted in an open forum, and were documented and made readily accessible at their website. Many of the regulatory failings we are railing a about now, were openly considered and debated within the working goups.”

Yes as you say “It appeared” that way but no one was listening. I myself know very well how after having criticized the Basel structure, while being an Executive Director at the World Bank 2002-2004, I was never thereafter invited by the management who are now very short on Mea Culpas and very long on hiding their responsibilities.

The real problem was that the whole Basel group basically came down to being an incestuous mutual admiration club… and still is!

Michael writes “For more than two decades the BISII project appeared to provide the best model for developing an optimal global regulatory framework”

Absolutely not! A regulatory model based on subsidizing perceived low risk and taxing risk is anathema to a world who wants and needs to go forward. Now if you are a baby-boomer and don´t care about what´s coming after “Après mois le deluge” then perhaps it made sense, though unluckily it did not last long enough to comfortably put you in your grave.

the Ayn Rand hero fits in perfectable with the persona he presented in one TV-Show. He was the totally understanding it all wise old wizard – after having read his “puzzled” comments I couldn’t quite believe the cheek of it
(I only look at Jon Stewart, Colbert, Charlie Rose or the Atlantic sometimes so it must have been one of those)