General Election 2010: Brown Speech at Royal Institute

General Election 2010: Brown Speech at Royal Institute; Gordon Brown speech continued SOT - Something has gone wrong in relationship between different countries in way we manage banking system - Easy for banks to be registered in different countries and chose location of activity - Unless you have global financial agreement [lights go out then come up again] you will have problems - Got to have global supervision, Capital certainty, Better system of remuneration - Fair global system of taxation ECONOMIC LESSONS - If markets fail, then govts have responsibility to intervene - we cannot subscribe to old orthodoxy of leaving it to the market - Alan Greenspan came to conclusion that bank execs were not working in shareholder interests - Govt also has role to protect public and ensure economy moves forward - talks of economist at 40th anniversary of Austrian republic - Where markets fail, govts have to act - Had to have stimulus to economy - two trillion stimulus put in by govts to make sure economic activity could be sustained - We did three things in the UK - 1 Helped small businesses through difficulties - 2 Protected mortgage holders (half repossessions compared to 1990s) - 3 Jobs, helping people unemployed - In 1980s, even after recession, unemployment kept rising for 5 years (3 years in 1990s) - To have unemployment falling after a recession can only be done by govt intervening