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Editors Column

Apr 01

2009

Enough already

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

“This too shall pass,” is a wise and comforting saying, but by no means does it imply simply waiting for a flood of trouble to recede. All floods recede in time, but you’ve got to do everything in your power to keep them from overwhelming you. Sometimes you win, sometimes not, but you never win if you don’t try.

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Mar 02

2009

Bad ideas you must fight now

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

In recent weeks one new idea, one new law, and one existing practice have moved to the forefront. All have the potential to drastically alter the banking industry as we know it.

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Feb 01

2009

A time of testing

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

January, a difficult month in the best of times, was particularly doleful this year. Not even the presidential inauguration nor the heroics of U.S. Airways’ Capt. Chesley Sullenberger could thaw the country’s economic (and meteorological) chill for long.

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Jan 01

2009

Why a lending surge won't work

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

Congress has become increasingly strident in insisting that banks that received capital from Treasury lend that money.

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Dec 01

2008

Oh, those boring banks

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

Boring is popular, right now.
Whether you’re talking investments, cars, or real estate deals, “slick,” “glitzy,” “high-powered” are all in the doghouse for the moment. They’ll be back, of course. But for now they’re in hiding.

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Nov 01

2008

Visiting with history

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

It was the middle of the afternoon and he had a cold, making the familiar rumbling voice even deeper. With his still-tall frame filling a large desk chair, Paul Volcker, glanced at the list of questions he was holding and asked his guest, “Why did I agree to do this?”

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Oct 01

2008

P.T. Barnum capitalism

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

The country PAUSED LAST month to note the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. How ironic that the economic damage to the U.S. financial system that fateful day was far less than what we just witnessed.

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Sep 01

2008

Responsibility. Now there's an idea

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

Somewhere along the line most of us were advised to brush regularly, floss, avoid too many sweets, etc. Whether we heeded that advice was, and is, our choice, and the consequences of not doing so are ours as well.

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Aug 01

2008

Manage the pendulum

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

If a ship springs a leak, it's a problem. If the passengers all run to one side thinking to save themselves, the ship will capsize. Now it's a disaster.

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Jul 01

2008

No trouble, no learning

Posted by Bill Streeter in Editors Column

You'd think, from reading or viewing the general media coverage of economic issues, that bankers are a bunch of fools, crooks, greedy so-and-so's, or all three. Bankers are a convenient and popular target. Even in the best of times, bankers are rarely seen as heroes. Not collectively, anyway. So you have to steel yourself-or put on a Teflon shell-during this difficult period, and take satisfaction from the good things you help accomplish.

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