Geezzzzz 20

Geezzzzz 20

There was a time meetings of any G number - 7, 8, 10, 20 - would put many business reporters to sleep. But now the significance of this body can not be lost on anyone, the world needs a coordinated effort to make any economic recovery sustainable.

There’s a lot of talking to be done: correcting imbalances, stimulus packages, financial regulation, trade and redistributing power to emerging powers.

What should stop immediately: talk of regulating bankers’ bonuses, its cheap headline grabbing nonsense! And anyone who decides to walk out of any talks because of it diminishes his or her office. Bankers are an easy target, politicians know that and they know that their publics are not happy at bailing out the bankers.

If French president Nicholas Sarkozy would like to do something useful for world trade, and getting the stalled Doha round of trade talks kick started, he should persuade his country’s farmers to give up the billions they receive in subsidies. That should kill off European Union food mountains and suck in imports from Africa.

There are some bigger issues. Financial regulation to prevent another global meltdown may have had its day. Politicians the world over have been slow to act -- the impetus is now diminishing.

Here are some simple rules on banking that should be implemented.

1. We should not have banks that are to big to fail. Investment banks should not be allowed to own retail banks and vice versa. Our money should be held by banks that lend less money than they are holding.

2. If you want to gamble money make sure you have enough money to cover your bets.

3. While we save for the long-term in pension funds/stocks, why should Hedge Funds short the market? That is sell stocks in the hope of buying them back at a lower price, so distorting the market.

4. Why do you need derivatives? That’s a financial instrument that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on – again, it’s a bit like gambling with money you don’t have.

5. And Chief Executives of financial institutions should not allow their minnows to sell products that they themselves don’t understand. If you don’t understand them then it’s obvious you have lost touch with trading floor. Time to step aside make way for younger blood.

I’m not concerned about how much the next man makes. The financial industry may not be good at redistributing the wealth it makes to the rest of society but in my experience as a business reporter, every year the City – London’s financial industry – sucks in graduates, thousands from poor backgrounds giving them the chance of earning money beyond their dreams. This exercise is repeated the world over.

Chances are that many will decide that the pursuit and dream of working in the financial industry is not for them.

In my interaction with many of these young men, many soon figure out that making vast sums of money, working 20-hour plus days is no substitute for having a life – many mistakenly thinking my job would have been a better option for them.

And that keeps me awake!