'P... Can we kill all bankers?'
Shock!
Horror!
Shock!
Horror!
Shock!
Horror!
And then an emphatic: 'Sure!'
It turns out that she's having some trouble transferring a sizeable amount of money from one bank to another. You can undoubtedly imagine what that's like (well, I'm having trouble with that sizeable amount of money, but I know the routine): you need a signature for this, and a special statement for that, a form 146826xydn in order to receive form 73654769fkjhy, which you need to get permission for filling out form 78874djhgnsl, but only if you have not filled out form 146826xydn, etc. The sheer complexity of the ordeal rattles me, and I just listened to M.'s story! M.: I feel soooo sorry for you.
Which leads me to my burning question: why do finances have to be so incredibly complicated? I break out in hives every year when its time to do my taxes. I shiver at the mere thought of having to open a bank account in England soon. I dread having to deal with the bank regarding the mortgage on the house in Holland, to the point where I'm wondering if I'll ever want to buy a house again. And it's not that I'm completely stupid. I think I'm better informed about financial services than most people. It's completely down to the financial market itself.
Case in point: Fortis and ABN Amro. Wouter Bos stated last week that one reason that the ABN Amro takeover went wrong is because there were things happening on the Fortis balance sheet that no one could have foreseen, and not even experts could have predicted. Even stronger, the Fortis was, apparently, selling financial products that no one understood, not even the smartest bankers. And now the financial world is toppling, the stockmarket is in a free-fall and every financial journalist is completely spooked. Duh! It's as if they've been playing with matches and didn't realise that they could start a forest fire! I've had periods where I've felt as if I was out of my league, but it now appears as if everybody in the finance industry feels that way all the time. They've just been play acting all along!
You know what, I think M. may have a point: let's kill all the bankers. And then start on the stock traders and financial journalists. Serves them right for not choosing a serious profession. Like acting.
Though the finances are now in order, it's not witout the unnecessary hassel that the banking world makes us put up with. The stress alone should put them on the 'kill list'.
ReplyDeleteIn the US they blame others, in the Netherlands they seem to be uninterested and uninformed, and in India they're just crooks.
Bankers all over just seem to be bad news... I said it once and I'll say it again: Kill all the bankers!
-M