The words are “urgent action” as uttered by those in financial leadership in our country. Action needs to be taken in order to avoid a financial meltdown. Somehow, I would suspect that words similar to that were uttered immediately before the Great Depression. Have we learned nothing from past history? Where were our government leader’s ethics?
According to CNN:
“You know, I share the outrage that people have,” said Paulson. “It’s embarrassing to look at this, and I think it’s embarrassing to the United States of America.”
“There is a lot of blame to go around – a lot of blame with big financial institutions that engaged in this irresponsible lending … blame to the people who made loans they shouldn’t have made, people who took out loans they shouldn’t have taken out,” said Paulson, who served as CEO of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for seven years before he became Treasury Secretary in 2006.
Where were our Government Leader’s Ethics?
Now I’m confused. Treasury Secretary Paulson is a smart man…otherwise he would not have lead Goldman Sachs and been named Treasury Secretary. Yet, now we face one of the most significant financial crisis of our generation and times and at the heart of the issue are actions taken by aggressive financial institutions.
“Blame to the people who made loans they shouldn’t have…” Secretary Paulson shame. Blame to the people. The people don’t have control over what loans are available and which loans are marketed to them. I agree there should be blame, but to blame people who responded to sophisticated marketing campaigns that were promulgated by financial institutions who have huge profits to earn is absurd!
The “people” bought what you sold and only by the grace of the federal reserve is your former company – Goldman Sachs still in business. The sad reality is – we are where we are due to misguided efforts and actions by those institutions (financial and government) who should have known better.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is reported to have said that the central bank would prefer that the government not have to take an active role in raising capital needed by financial firms. But he said there was no alternative given current market conditions.
“Action by the Congress is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what otherwise could be very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy,” Bernanke said.
Ethics are defined as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. As an Ethics Speaker, I feel that those who lead have not only a moral duty but a supreme obligation to do what is good and in the best interest of those they serve. At this moment the debate in Washington, DC directly relates to doing what is in the “good and best interest” of those they serve. Sad that we had to arrive on the brink of a financial disaster in order for our leaders to take notice.
We can all make mistakes. Leaders are not perfect. But as I say in ever Ethics presentation I make – Every Choice Has A Consequence. This is no different. The self-serving profiteering choices of the past – loaning money to those who could not afford it and driving an economy on the back of those who are now blamed – is unethical and wrong. I submit that had the same actions been made on a small scale – the government would have charged those involved with fraud and it would have been a “white collar crime” example. But this is too big and now it is called a mistake with our top financial leaders and institutions being bailed out.
What do you think – Goldman, Merrill, Lehman, AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – the government’s oversight – ethical or unethical?
An interesting commentary by Ron Paul can be found here…you might want to take a look.