Poetry

Wouldn't it be poetic if all those bankers loosing their jobs found themselves unable to keep up their mortgage payments, and had to sell their houses, finding themselves in a situation of negative equity, as the economy crashes around them. Somehow it would just begin to vindicate those folks who, having been sold mortgages they couldn't afford, lost all their quality of life as they defaulted on their loans and became that amorphous mass of "sub-prime" debt.

Shadenfraude is such an ugly emotion, however. But I do hope that the news and business reporters who cover this story - which will, I fear continue to get worse before it gets better - will spare a thought for all the individuals caught up in it.

No one is blameless, I fear. The bankers were either negligent, or knew they were living on a bank of shifting sand. The mortgage brokers are perhaps the true villains of the piece. But the hard-up borrowers should surely have known that something seeming too good to be true probably was. The latter get my sympathy, however: surely our calling is to protect the weak and vulnerable - whether that vulnerability arises from weakness or a simple inability to do arithmetic.

Great strides have been made - though there is much more to be done - in the area of fair trade. If at least we make the processes of global trade transparent, we can decide for ourselves whose blood, sweat, and toil we want to exploit. I wonder if there is room for a similar venture in the area of financial transparency. The whole business of "ethical investments" just means that I don't buy shares in tobacco companies and arms manufacturers, as far as I can see. As financial instruments get more and more complex, I should perhaps care exactly how the banks (and others) that I deal with make their money - and where the scope for collateral damage might be.

Teasing that all apart would be quite a job. It would take an institute full of dedicated ex-bankers, I suspect. As well as informing the end customer, it would have an opportunity to engage in lobbying for improved accountability in the banking sector, too.

There are, of course, some people doing much more creative thinking around this subject. There's micro-finance along the lines of Kiva, for example, or Josh's Indian (former) Taxi Fund [how's that going, I wonder? I Googled around for a more up-to-date blog post, but couldn't find the one I wanted]. And there's probably a lot of other things beside.

I fear there will be a lot more fall-out from the banking sector still to come. And too often, those in high finance will forget the little people. Wouldn't it be great for Christians to be known for charting a course through the mess, and helping people get their lives straightened out (rather than for bickering about creationsim, women bishops, or homosexuality). But I'm dreaming.