Destroy Who You'd Make Good
There comes a time in every desperate recapitalisation of the creaking financial system when governments need to bite the bullet and then use it to put broken-down institutions out of their misery. Capitalism is, at its heart, a recapitulation of the basic Hindu principle of regeneration. Until there’s destruction there can be no creation.
In their desperation to shore up the world’s banks politicians can lose sight of this basic principle. It’s one thing to protect deposit holders – although allowing them to make reckless gambles without the promise of commensurate pain opens up a world of moral hazard – it’s entirely another to offer shareholders and managers a free hand with bottomless pits of taxpayer’s cash. Vishnu the Preserver’s had his day, it’s time to let Shiva the Destroyer out of his cage.
There comes a time in every desperate recapitalisation of the creaking financial system when governments need to bite the bullet and then use it to put broken-down institutions out of their misery. Capitalism is, at its heart, a recapitulation of the basic Hindu principle of regeneration. Until there’s destruction there can be no creation.
In their desperation to shore up the world’s banks politicians can lose sight of this basic principle. It’s one thing to protect deposit holders – although allowing them to make reckless gambles without the promise of commensurate pain opens up a world of moral hazard – it’s entirely another to offer shareholders and managers a free hand with bottomless pits of taxpayer’s cash. Vishnu the Preserver’s had his day, it’s time to let Shiva the Destroyer out of his cage.
