Banks, Banks and More Banks

I appear to have been either writing or talking about banks all week. On France 24 I took part in a pretty good discussion about the bonus culture, which you can see here. In the Spectator, I've been writing about the problems with the private banks. Over on Bloomberg, I've been looking at the run of mistakes and misjudgements that led to the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland. From the Bloomberg column I got lots of response from former RBS bankers about just how badly the bank was run. My favorite was a story about how the head office in Edinburgh decided the receptionists around the world had to wear tartan uniforms, ignoring the fact that in countries like Singapore and Malaysia it was far too hot. That perfectly illustrates how little they understood the markets they were operating in.