October 13, 2012

When regulatory madness is just that

Sir, Gillian Tett writes about “When political madness works” October 13, and in it refers to Lord Owen’s neurology paper “Hubris syndrome”, 2009. She also refers to Nassir Ghaemi’s “A first rate madness” which holds that some imbalances like depression, bipolar syndrome and hyperactive manias” could help leaders to better manage crisis. 

Hold it there! Before these imbalances become prerequisites of leadership let me state the following: 

Independently of what imbalances they suffered from, when bank regulators engaged in one of the greatest hubris exercises ever, that of believing themselves to be fully equipped to act as risk managers for the world, they utterly, and totally, failed… and their madness has not served them or us later either. 

Their regulatory discrimination in favor of The Infallible and against The Risky is killing our economies, and there is no way Gillian Tett is going to convince me they are doing us some Winston Churchill good.

And by the way... what about the hubris and or madness of some journalists? Is it good or bad?