Global CRASH WARNING: World is heading for economic MELTDOWN ‘People have FORGOTTEN 2008′
US officials who helped the country survive the 2008 financial crisis fear the world has forgotten the painful lessons learnt from the banking system’s near-collapse – despite navigating dangerous waters.
By ALICE SCARSI
Express.co.uk
Wed, Jul 18, 2018
Three financial experts who actively worked to tackle the worst economic crisis since the Great Recession issued a stark warning after gathering for talks ahead of the crisis’ 10th anniversary.
Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was leading the ministry at the time, Timothy Geithner, who succeeded him in 2009, and Ben Bernanke, the former Federal Reserve chairman, fear the world’s forgetful attitude could make it much harder to face the next economic crisis.
Reflecting on the 2008 crisis, Mr Paulson said: “What we were trying to do was to prevent Armageddon.
“We were looking at a situation where if we felt we had one more big institution go down, it would have taken the whole system down.”
The trio warned a new economic downturn is inevitable and will meet with finance chiefs in the US in September to discuss what should be done to prepare for the next crisis.
Mr Bernanke said: “We hope to provide some useful guidance — perhaps more than the three of us had.”
Mr Paulson said: “It is important that people focus on the lessons.
“We are not sure people remember everything they need to remember.”
The three experts discussed the reforms implemented upon the breakout of the crisis and whether the world would fare better if faced with new economic turmoil.
Mr Geithner said: “We let the financial system outgrow the protections we put in place in the Great Depressions and made the system very fragile and vulnerable to panic.
“One of the most powerful lessons from this crisis should be that you want to work very hard to make sure that your defences are robust.”
However, US President Donald Trump announced since his election in 2016 the desire to reverse the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, a set of rules approved by the Obama administration in 2010 to tighten regulatory loopholes revealed by the 2008 crisis.
The Rest…HERE
