Thursday, February 28, 2008

Finance as the Discipline of Faith

Here is the economics columnist of The New York Times, Paul Krugman, on the cause of the recent financial crisis (Feb 15, '08):

Why has a crisis that began with loans to a limited group of home buyers ended up disrupting so much of the financial system? Because, ultimately, it’s more than a subprime crisis; indeed, it’s more than a housing crisis. It’s a crisis of faith.
There you have it: if only people had faith. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

A neo-liberal New York sophisticate is turned into a new born Christian – or is it Jew? – under the onslaught of events whose cause he does not recognize much less understand.

I will return with Part 3 of the "Credit Woes”.