Below is a letter sent by a dear friend of mine to the Financial Times on Friday, 29th August. Although the FT will publish it, I’m not sure which day it will appear on the news stands. 

“Accustomed as we are to branding pervading our lives from the Coca Cola Cup to the ambulance that rushes us to hospital on the fateful day that we require it, the media has chosen to brand events throughout history. This is especially so for those financial events that have punctuated our existence over the last 100 years or so. The Gold Standard, the Great Depression, Decimalisation Day, Black Wednesday, and I am sure there are more.

I am concerned that we do not miss the opportunity to allocate ownership for the current financial downturn that has us all looking for our parachutes, in the light of fading economic comfort, increasing unemployment and the likelihood that the next 12 months will put us back into post war style austerity.

It is, after all, the bankers who, through their careless, greedy and self-centred investments have broken the rules on prudent money management and exceeded their brief as guardians of our savings and our economic prosperity.

I propose and I hope many will agree with me that we should call this period economic instability ‘The Bankers Recession’.

Let us all hope that having got us into this state, they find the courage of their convictions and the balls to get us out of what is likely to be a prolonged and probably the most disillusioning period in Post War economics. Why should we all suffer for their selfish greed.

Let us hold them responsible and publicly remind them of their actions, in history, through the brand, “The Bankers’ Recession”.