Economic history is doomed to repeat itself

Secretary of the Treasury, Henry M. Paulson, Jr., spoke at the Ronald Reagan Library on Thurs., Nov. 20 and is quoted as having said that one cause of our current financial crisis is "outdated U.S. and global financial regulatory systems."

This is an ironic coverup of facts given the venue. The dismantling of regulations put in place following the 1929 stock market crash that were designed to safeguard against this kind of financial crisis that began during the Ronald Reagan presidency. Just what's become outdated exactly?

I think the answer is found by going all the way back to President Andrew Jackson. Here's a quote from Jackson's address to the central bankers of his day: "Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. . . . I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God I will."

Just try and imagine Henry M. Paulson, Jr., George W. Bush or Barack Obama taking such a stand. It's not going to happen unless we start demanding that they do.

Our government believes that common sense and fiscal honor are outdated.
Mary T. Ficalora
Agoura Hills