Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, October 25, 2010
“Banking: From Bagehot to Basel, and Back Again” speech to the Buttonwood Gathering, New York City
During The Economist’s Buttonwood Gathering, Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, criticized the performance of Britain’s banks throughout the 2008-2009 crisis and said the new Basel III proposals are inadequate. King’s frankness is similar to the Ethical Markets view and that of our Transforming Finance meeting and statement. King says “of all the many ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today.” He warns that far-reaching reform of the current financial system is necessary, listing many reforms including eliminating fractional reserve banking, calling the process “alchemy.” Read the full speech here.
See the video of the presentation at the Economist website.