Where would our economies be without chancers, hustlers and other wheeler dealers?

Sir, John Gapper rightly nudges the question of where our economies would be without chancers, hustlers and other wheeler dealers, “Ecclestone is a chancer who has earned a final chance” August 7.

And though we would surely not like to see one of our daughters marrying one of these we regard as social misfits, there is no doubt that without them our economies would go stale.

Think of it. How much capital is currently not in action, giving jobs to many, only because someone convinced its owners of being able to make huge returns with no risks? Are we instead to have all our savings only safely increasing the value of the Picasso’s hanging on our walls? 

But, even so, I abhor the risk-weighted capital requirements for banks based on perceived credit risks. 

With these we are giving special access to bank credit to those who specialize in dressing up as “absolutely safe”… like the infallible sovereign entrepreneurs. 

But why would we want to withhold fair access to bank credit for the “risky” medium and small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups, with other type of knowledge and drive? That sounds like an unnecessary limitation which can’t really be good for anyone… in the long run.