|
KEEP PESTON OFF THE TV!
Amusing though it is to see politicians of all persuasions being made to squirm on the subject of their expenses, behind all this posturing is a much more important news story, which seems to be gaining quiet ground: that there genuinely are some ‘green shoots’ of recovery in the economy.
Last September, when it looked as if the world was going to come to a halt, the darling of the media was BBC Financial Editor Robert Peston. Not a day went by without his face appearing on our screens, delivering doomsday predictions about financial meltdown.
In fact, he was there so often that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone ran scared, and the resulting crash was worse than it should have been, because confidence was rock bottom. We shouldn’t underestimate how important this commodity is - the city is like a flock of sheep, where one goes, the others follow.
Which is why we should all be making optimistic noises now, and why Peston should be kept off our screens. I am a firm believer that if enough people start talking about the first signs of recovery, we can talk it up. If consumers start to think that we have hit the bottom, then they will start acting differently.
I’m not advocating a return to the reckless, irresponsible financial behaviour that got us into this mess. Recovery has to based on a sounder, better regulated, less greedy economic system. And to achieve that, we need to establish it while the memory of the obscene behaviour of our largely unregulated banking cowboys is still fresh in our minds. There is a real danger that if we leave it too late, we will simply replicate what came before - and set ourselves up for yet another fall in the not too distant future.
The climb out of the current recession is going to be long and arduous. But it has to start sometime, so why not now?
Because it’s not about helping bankers to earn massive bonuses - recovery means that millions of ordinary people will be spared the misery and financial hardship of unemployment. We should never forget that economics is not really about abstract figures and esoteric indexes; it’s about real people being able to live their lives with dignity and security.
So my call to you all this month is to get out there and start being optimistic. Gainsay the doom-mongerers, tell the world about how things seem to be turning around at last, that there are definite green shoots, and that it’s time to start being positive.
And keep Peston of the telly!
Article published in Eco Echo June 2009 |
