I once heard this tale from the US. A guy was fishing from his little rowing boat when he saw a water snake with a frog in its mouth. Being of a kindly disposition he grabbed the snake and rescued the frog. But then he thought that he had deprived the poor snake of its dinner. He looked around the boat and the only consumable on board was a bottle of bourbon. So he administered a slug of it to the snake. The snake disappeared below the water and reappeared with two frogs in its mouth. Moral: If you reward the behavior you don't want you'll get more of the same.
This is rather like the current financial crisis in which we are enmeshed. Part of the problem was the irresponsible behavior of the bankers, so while they continue much as before their bonuses are still paid.
Part was caused by individuals who ran up huge personal debts, so interest rates are reduced to make the pain of their excesses bearable. What was needed was for people to save so that they will be secure in their old age. So the actions of both this, and the previous government, has been to raid the pension funds and ensure that the returns on savings is so low that savers loose money. Expect more frogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment