Who will come out of this better off, the grasshopper or the ants? It is my belief that the grasshopper will not change his ways, even though he’ll give a nice speech to that effect. Once the major crisis is out of the way, and a little humble pie eaten, the grasshopper will revert to his old ways and we’ll re-enter the cycle of boom and bust.

I do not think that the measures taken, at present, will address the problems built into the market in that traders seek ever newer ways to outflank regulation, and the regulators are always one step behind. The instruments traded and in many ways gambles and are designed for short-term gain only.

We need some pain in the market but it needs to be focussed with a goal of delivering a better system once this is over. However I do not believe that governments, whose parties get a lot of their fundings from such companies, will be willing to put in the time, and effort, to reform what is a very complex system.

So says the world’s greatest cynic!