Dutch Finance minister attacks shareholders

It’s a bit late, considering even I already argued this same point four months ago. Bos also ignores the role his own ministry has played in fermenting this crisis. After all it’s the ministry of finance, through the various insitutions it controls that’s supposed to safeguard the financial markets and which failed miserably. They completely missed the problems with the Icelandic banks for example, gave their blessing to the takeover of ABN Amro which destroyed four banks and counting and in general stayed true to the neoliberal partyline of minimal interference as the market knew best.

The anger at the bankes is understandable, but it was the whole system that failed. The recession isn’t caused by a few too greedy CEOs, but because capitalism always encourages short term greed no matter the consequences and the measures and safeguards that were put in place after the last Great Depression were deliberately dismantled from the seventies onwards. Something in which succesive finance ministers actively colluded. The Netherlands should become more American in its approach towards the markets, with less state control and more freedom for business. The current recession is the logical end result.