Forbidden to inform the public ...
In Belgium, Mr Luc Coene, governor of the National Bank of Belgium (should be Federal Bank as Belgium is a federal country) recently told the media (1) we are heading towards a new economic recession (while a report from the same Bank says the Belgian economy will grow) and (2) Dexia Holding, ones saved from bankruptcy, will need more money, otherwise it will still collapse (everyone with brains could have predicted more money is needed as the problems were and still are very big).
These are serious warnings. But imagine the reaction of many of Belgium's politicians: Mr Coene should not say these things in public as it will damage the economy; he should not speak in public as he speaks as a politician and should not lecture politicians. Unbelievable for me, he informs the politicians about the coming dangers and they can only think he speaks as a politician and thus they tell him to shut up. That is why party politics should disappear (as mentioned in a previous post) because politicians don't listen to reason but they hear another message than normal people, i.e. a person belonging to another political party who speaks as if he is still a messenger of that party. Mr Coene belongs to the liberal party and thus is in favour of the economy, I don't think he said those things to damage the economy but because he sees the politicians don't act after his previous warning given behind closed doors (and then leaked to the public).
I think Mr Coene is doing his job as he should do: he informs the decision makers (politicians) and the public because governments use their taxes. Then the politicians can make a political decision: they can decide to do something to try to prevent bad things happening or they can decide to do nothing as things were already in calculated. But they should not condemn the messenger but instead think about solutions and inform the public about what they are planning to do and why. Some politicians say Mr Coene should not speak because a report from the National Bank says the Belgian economy will continue to grow next year and this is different from the message of Mr Coene. But hey, the economical situation changes almost on a daily basis, how can a report then be accurate unless it is updated? And thus the politicians should be happy they are warned this time.
During the first economical crisis I heard ones someone saying banks knew the crisis was coming but ignored the warnings. Because the warnings were hidden, politicians and official agencies didn't know what was going to happen as they were not informed (also, banks were fraudulent pretending the economy was better than it was). But now, the politicians and society are warned and when they ignore the warnings, they can only blame themselves for doing nothing. Politicians should be able to adjust when things change to prevent disaster. By now, the financial control agency should be reformed so these control agencies have more powers to control the banks and punish when necessary. Now laws should exist to prevent the excesses of some people at the top. Only idiots say they will act when things go wrong at a time when they get messages that things probably will go wrong and thus can try to prevent things going wrong. (The same for climate change, we were warned for so many years but we didn't act and still do little and thus we will suffer.)
At least the Flemish Minister-President Kris Peeters made one thing clear: Flanders will not help Dexia Holding. Whether or not one agrees with this decision, at least now he can concentrate on what to do when Dexia Holding may indeed go bankrupt. Unless he ignores that possibility. And indeed, one should not continuous place money in a black hole as the money disappears to unknown regions, certainly when the black hole doesn't want to change its behaviour. The financial sector has to understand they should behave or get punishment. The money not given to banks to rescue them should then be used to help savers who may otherwise loose their savings. These people can then save at a financially healthy bank or use their money to spent it and boost the economy or use it to start a business. And when banks collapse, justice should investigate what went wrong and who was responsible. And those with investments in Dexia Holding now know what to do: leave the sinking ship and save as much as possible from your investment so you can use it to invest in more promising industries such as renewable energies or food. Because ones Dexia Holding is gone, governments may be too weak to pay your savings and then you looses everything. Or they can decide to keep their investments as they think the problems are not that big. But at least now the shareholders are informed and can make their own judgement.
These are serious warnings. But imagine the reaction of many of Belgium's politicians: Mr Coene should not say these things in public as it will damage the economy; he should not speak in public as he speaks as a politician and should not lecture politicians. Unbelievable for me, he informs the politicians about the coming dangers and they can only think he speaks as a politician and thus they tell him to shut up. That is why party politics should disappear (as mentioned in a previous post) because politicians don't listen to reason but they hear another message than normal people, i.e. a person belonging to another political party who speaks as if he is still a messenger of that party. Mr Coene belongs to the liberal party and thus is in favour of the economy, I don't think he said those things to damage the economy but because he sees the politicians don't act after his previous warning given behind closed doors (and then leaked to the public).
I think Mr Coene is doing his job as he should do: he informs the decision makers (politicians) and the public because governments use their taxes. Then the politicians can make a political decision: they can decide to do something to try to prevent bad things happening or they can decide to do nothing as things were already in calculated. But they should not condemn the messenger but instead think about solutions and inform the public about what they are planning to do and why. Some politicians say Mr Coene should not speak because a report from the National Bank says the Belgian economy will continue to grow next year and this is different from the message of Mr Coene. But hey, the economical situation changes almost on a daily basis, how can a report then be accurate unless it is updated? And thus the politicians should be happy they are warned this time.
During the first economical crisis I heard ones someone saying banks knew the crisis was coming but ignored the warnings. Because the warnings were hidden, politicians and official agencies didn't know what was going to happen as they were not informed (also, banks were fraudulent pretending the economy was better than it was). But now, the politicians and society are warned and when they ignore the warnings, they can only blame themselves for doing nothing. Politicians should be able to adjust when things change to prevent disaster. By now, the financial control agency should be reformed so these control agencies have more powers to control the banks and punish when necessary. Now laws should exist to prevent the excesses of some people at the top. Only idiots say they will act when things go wrong at a time when they get messages that things probably will go wrong and thus can try to prevent things going wrong. (The same for climate change, we were warned for so many years but we didn't act and still do little and thus we will suffer.)
At least the Flemish Minister-President Kris Peeters made one thing clear: Flanders will not help Dexia Holding. Whether or not one agrees with this decision, at least now he can concentrate on what to do when Dexia Holding may indeed go bankrupt. Unless he ignores that possibility. And indeed, one should not continuous place money in a black hole as the money disappears to unknown regions, certainly when the black hole doesn't want to change its behaviour. The financial sector has to understand they should behave or get punishment. The money not given to banks to rescue them should then be used to help savers who may otherwise loose their savings. These people can then save at a financially healthy bank or use their money to spent it and boost the economy or use it to start a business. And when banks collapse, justice should investigate what went wrong and who was responsible. And those with investments in Dexia Holding now know what to do: leave the sinking ship and save as much as possible from your investment so you can use it to invest in more promising industries such as renewable energies or food. Because ones Dexia Holding is gone, governments may be too weak to pay your savings and then you looses everything. Or they can decide to keep their investments as they think the problems are not that big. But at least now the shareholders are informed and can make their own judgement.
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